A WINCHESTER judge has been appointed to one of the city’s most prestigious honorary titles.

The full council last night (Wed) agreed that Keith Cutler should succeed Michael Brodrick who retired from the post when he stood down as a judge earlier this year.

Judge Cutler is the resident judge at Winchester and the most senior one sitting permanently in the city.

Married with two children, he lives near Salisbury. He was appointed to the Bar in 1972 and first worked in Winchester in 1974. From 1996 he has been a circuit judge.

He thanked councillors for the honour, and added: “Winchester is the centre of the legal world as far as England and Wales are concerned. It is the heartland. It means so much to the lawyers, barristers and judges, so it is a great honour to be Recorder of Winchester.”

The Council also thanked Mr Brodrick for his five years in the role he had resurrected after a six-year gap.

Mr Brodrick said the title had been appreciated by all the Law Courts staff. “Somehow it conferred added status. It seemed to increase the importance of the job they were doing,” he said.