Lawyer appointed as Bradford's leading judge (From Keighley News)

Lawyer appointed as Bradford's leading judge

9:00am Friday 5th October 2012 in Keighley By Steve Wright, Crime Reporter

A former Bradford barrister, who became a judge after surviving an horrific skiing accident, is set to take up the top judicial post in the city.

Judge Roger Thomas QC will be the new Recorder of Bradford, following the retirement of Judge James Stewart QC earlier this year.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office in London confirmed Judge Thomas has been appointed as Resident Judge at Bradford Crown Court.

His appointment as the Honorary Recorder of Bradford will be ratified later by Bradford Council, because it is classified as an “office of dignity”.

Judge Thomas, 58, who is from West Yorkshire, was called to the Bar in 1976 and was made a Queen’s Counsel in 2000 – three years after he was left fighting for his life following a skiing accident in France.

He fell 25 feet over a ledge and on to rocks, suffering head injuries and spending six weeks in a coma.

He told the Telegraph & Argus, in 2000: “I have been very, very lucky. I was just about dead, on a life support machine. Two years down the line and I’ve made a full recovery.

“It’s been hard work. I was off work the whole of 1998 but I’ve just devoted myself to hard work – 70 hours a week, up at dawn, late-night candle burning and working weekends.”

He practised as a member of the Bradford barristers chambers at Broadway House until 2004, when he was appointed as a judge on the Northern Circuit. He had previously been a recorder – part-time judge – on the North Eastern Circuit, sitting in Newcastle.

He has been sitting at Manchester Crown Court since 2005, and is a member of the Council of Circuit Judges.

When he was appointed as a Circuit Judge, he prophetically told the T&A: “Bradford is my professional home. I don’t see this as the end of my long connection with Bradford.”