| Judge Lucraft | |
| Honorific Prefix: | His Honour |
| Honorific Suffix: | KC |
| Office: | Recorder of London |
| Predecessor: | Sir Nicholas Hilliard |
| Alma Mater: | University of Kent at Canterbury |
| Office1: | Chief Coroner of England and Wales |
| Predecessor1: | Sir Peter Thornton |
| Successor1: | Thomas Teague |
| Termstart1: | 2016 |
| Term Start: | 2020 |
| Termend1: | 2020 |
Mark Lucraft, KC (born December 1961), is a British barrister and judge.
Serving since 2020 as Recorder of London, the most senior Circuit judge at the Old Bailey, Lucraft was Chief Coroner of England and Wales from 2016 to 2020.
Educated at Wood Green School, Lucraft read law at the University of Kent, graduating BA in 1983, before being called to the Bar in 1984. Appointed Recorder in 2003, he took silk (QC) in 2006, becoming a full-time judge in 2012[1] and was a Senior Circuit Judge at the Central Criminal Court ("Old Bailey") from 2015, where he was appointed as Resident Judge in April 2020.[2] Prominent cases include a life sentence in 2024 for Fiona Beal, who murdered her partner Nicholas Billingham in 2021.[3]
From 2016 to 2020, he was Chief Coroner of England and Wales, while continuing as an Old Bailey judge.[4] [5] As Chief Coroner, he presided over the inquests into the 2017 Westminster attack,[6] the 2017 London Bridge and Borough Market attack,[7] and the 2019 London Bridge stabbings.[8]
In 2020, before relinquishing the role of Chief Coroner, he became Recorder of London, the senior judge at the Old Bailey.[9] [10] The roles were allowed to overlap due to the pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. By tradition, the Recorder of London is also appointed High Steward of Southwark,[11] and Lucraft accordingly occupies this role.[12] In October 2023, he ruled that the name and date of birth of the police officer who shot Chris Kaba could be made public on 30 January 2024.[13]
General editor of Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice, an annual publication for practitioners of criminal law in the Crown Courts,[14] Lucraft is a Liveryman of the Founders' Company and an Honorary Freeman of the Curriers' Company.