Parker's style was totally different from Goddard as he confined himself to the higher courts and did not intervene in everyday criminal trials. He had little interest in the social life of the judiciary. He was called upon where a trial had a serious political aspect, and was criticised when he imprisoned journalists who refused to reveal their sources during the Vassall tribunal of 1963. Parker's judgment stated in part "the citizen's highest duty is to the State". Parker also made history when he sentenced George Blake, convicted of spying, to 42 years imprisonment, the longest sentence then passed in an English court; the conjunction seemed to some to suggest that Parker was too close to the government of the day, though others said Parker had been shocked at the extent of the treachery that had sent dozens of Western agents to their deaths. Parker had himself said that the Courts "have a positive responsibility to be the handmaiden of administration rather than its governor".