British High Court judge cracks his own Da Vinci code

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London (dpa) - A British High Court judge, who inserted his own hidden message in his plagiarism ruling on the US bestseller The Da Vinci Code, revealed the mystery of his secret code Friday .

In a press statement, judge Peter Smith, a keen military historian and expert on the Titanic, explained that the seemingly random italicised letters included in his written judgement referred to his great hero - an early 20th century British admiral.

Smith, who ruled in early April that US author Dan Brown had not copied his Da Vinci Code plot from an earlier book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, said it took him 40 minutes to devise the code, and another 40 minutes to insert it in the 71-page written judgement.

Smith, 53, said he had inserted the code for his own amusement and it had nothing to do with the case. He believed there was no reason why legal judgements "should not be fun."

"I hate crosswords and do not do Sudoku as I do not have the patience", he said.

The code read: "Smithy Code Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought", referring to the admiral who revolutionised sea warfare by introducing the first modern battleship, HMS Dreadnought.