Stephen Bacon was a hugely gifted and much liked media lawyer. For nearly 50 years, he advised newspaper journalists and editors across tabloid and broadsheet publications. Over his working life, he saw the heights and decline in circulations of national newspapers and the birth and flourishing of digital titles. He was equally at ease in advising them all.
Stephen was born in Oldham in 1945. He remained proud of his northern heritage and it found expression in his love of Lancashire cricket, even after his move to Kent halfway through his life.
He became a barrister in 1969 and mixed court work on the Northern Circuit with work as a night lawyer for the Northern Daily Express in Manchester, then printing well over a million copies a night.
He became a full-time in-house lawyer in the mid-seventies and worked with Ian Pollard in Manchester, first for the Daily and Sunday Express and encompassing the Daily Star after it launched in 1978.
In 1987, Jeffrey Archer began libel proceedings in London against the Daily Star. Both Stephen and Ian in Manchester had little say in the way the action was fought and felt the injustice of Archer’s win with the £500,000 jury award then being the biggest libel damages in English legal history.
Happily, Stephen was able to work on the successful recovery of the damages, costs and interest, following Archer’s conviction for perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001. To Stephen’s great credit, he never forgot that his friend and colleague Lloyd Turner, who had been the editor of the Daily Star in 1987, had sadly not lived to see justice and his reputation rightly restored.
Shortly after the Archer trial, the Daily Star moved to London and the Manchester Express office was cut down. Stephen moved to the London offices of Express Newspapers and relocated his family to Kent. There, he worked with me for some 18 years.
He was an expert at legalling copy for libel, making as few marks as possible, but enough to protect the publication.
After well over 40 years’ service, Stephen finally retired from Express Group in 2011. He had advised dozens of national and regional newspaper editors, worked closely with hundreds of journalists, and legalled several hundred thousand articles.
He went on to become a night lawyer for the Times and Sunday Times as well as doing legal shifts at the Sun and Sun on Sunday. He also brought his legal skills to the ever increasing digital publications.
All in the media who worked with him knew that he loved journalists and journalism, that he knew his law backwards and that he was on their side, while fully prepared to say no when warranted.
His legal judgement was combined with wit and great charm, perhaps not always a common combination in a lawyer, and it brought him wide respect and affection.
Stephen died peacefully on July 13 after a battle with cancer bravely fought over many years. He leaves a devoted wife, Felicity, daughter Clio and son Nicolas from his first marriage.
His funeral is at St Martin’s Church, Eynsford, Kent, on Wednesday, 20 August at 1.30pm, and there will be memorial service at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, on Wednesday, 15 October at 11.30am. All are welcome to both.
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