A CIRCUIT judge who has presided over crown courts in Worcester and Hereford for more than a decade has retired on reaching the age of 70.

Tributes were paid at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday to Judge David McEvoy QC.

Judge Alistair McCreath said Judge McEvoy, a fellow Scot, was commissioned into the Black Watch at the age of 19 and later took up a career in law . He was called to the bar in 1964 and took silk in 1983.

After years as a Recorder, he became a circuit judge in 1996. Judge McCreath described him as the “right kind of lawyer” whose intelligence of knowledge were matched by good sense.

Judge McEvoy, whose wife Belinda and three daughters were in court for the validictory, will still be able to sit on an occasional basis at crown court.

On behalf of the bar, Abigail Nixon said he had a unique way of making it a pleasure to appear before him in court. He always demonstrated the human touch in dealing with witnesses. He was fair and even-handed.

Judge McEvoy said his time at court had been relatively trouble-free and he was grateful for the help he had received from staff.