When details emerged of how the Iraqi hotel receptionist Baha Mousa had been violently restrained and beaten to death in British military custody in 2003, it was the appeal court judge Sir William Gage who was the natural choice to chair the public inquiry.
Trusted with high profile trials, Gage, who has died aged 85, was renowned for his legal thoroughness and composed demeanour. Furthermore he had a military background, having completed national service as a lieutenant in the Irish Guards.
