In May 1961, after a trial that was held mostly ‘in-camera,’ George Blake was convicted on five counts under s.1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. Under normal circumstances, the maximum sentence permitted by law would be 14 years. The Lord Chief Justice Parker, however, ruled that each count to which he was convicted would be sentenced consecutively. As a consequence, his sentence was then the longest ever imposed: – 42 years.
