A FORMER Huddersfield man who became a prominent judge has died.

Arthur Edward Hutchinson, QC, was 76 and lived in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

Mr Hutchinson was the son of the late Ted Hutchinson, a noted Huddersfield solicitor, and Mrs Kathleen Hutchinson, a legal executive, of Fixby.

He was educated at Silcoates School, Wakefield, and then went on to study law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

But his university studies came only after a spell in the Army – and a brush with death.

Aged just 19, he was commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers and was serving in Kenya, where British troops were faced with putting down a rebellion by the Mau Mau.

Second Lieutenant Hutchinson was shot at by a tribesman using a bow and arrow, but the weapon missed his throat by a fraction of an inch.

He was called to the Middle Temple Bar in 1958 and became a barrister.

He became a Recorder on the NE Circuit and often sat at the former Crown Court in Huddersfield as well as other towns and cities in the region.

He was appointed a QC in 1979 and was a highly-respected Crown Court judge for many years.

Mr Hutchinson is survived by his wife Wendy, three children Sally, Penny and Matthew and seven grandchildren.

He was a lifelong supporter of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and in the 1970s was the main speaker at a Huddersfield Cricket League dinner at Ainley Top.

He was also a keen player in his younger days and turned out for many seasons in the former Almondbury Casuals team.

A funeral service will be held at All Saints Church, Ilkley, on Friday, June 10, at 1pm.