Gerald "Gary" Denis Flather, QC, OBE, (4 October 1937 – 9 October 2017) was an English barrister, judge and disability rights campaigner. Flather was the son of Denis Gerald Flather, group managing director of the family steel company based in Sheffield,[1] [2] and Joan Ada (née Walker).[3] He was educated at Oundle School and Pembroke College, Oxford. He sat for ten years as a deputy High Court judge, and for 27 years as a recorder. He founded the Bar Council Disability Committee, amongst other things campaigning for improved access in courts and for disabled students' rights.[4]
Flather married Shreela Rai, a politician, daughter of Rai Bahadur Aftab Rai, of New Delhi, India, a barrister and diplomat. Flather fought multiple sclerosis for forty years, necessitating the use of a wheelchair.[5] [3] [6] [7] Flather was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours "for services to the Legal Profession and to promoting Disability Awareness."[8]