A YORK sportsman who became one of the great characters of the north-eastern legal community has made his final judgement after nearly half a century in the law.

A former Royal Navy seaman and factory inspector, Judge Jonathan Crabtree rose to be deputy resident judge of the city and, as an amateur cricketer and raconteur, is as well-known in York's sporting circles as in its legal community.

Staff at York Crown Court arranged a special sitting for him there so he could finish his legal career in the city he has known all his life.

Hailing him as "one of the enduring great characters" of the north-eastern circuit and a "Rumpolian" figure, the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, told past and present judges, including retired resident judge of York Arthur Myerson QC, silks and other barristers, how Judge Crabtree made his name as a robust lawyer, willing to speak his mind. The Leader of the Circuit, Peter Collier QC, praised Judge Crabtree's sense and knowledge of history and his fearlessness in court.

In his retirement speech, Judge Crabtree warned that the legal community faced battles ahead over the retention of the jury system and lay magistrates and criticised the ever-increasing size and complexity of the law as decreed by Parliament.

He was called to the Bar in 1958 after two years in the Royal Navy, where he was an able seaman, and a period as a factory inspector. He first sat as a judge in 1974 at Bradford Town Hall and became a full-time circuit judge in 1986. Before he had to go on sick leave more than a year ago, he was a familiar figure in York city centre walking to court or catching the train to Doncaster Crown Court.

Updated: 10:46 Wednesday, May 07, 2003