Tributes as former Recorder of Hull and East Riding sadly dies just months after retirement

-Credit:HHJ Chris Smith KC
-Credit:HHJ Chris Smith KC


Tributes have been paid to a former Recorder of Hull and East Riding who died just months after his retirement.

Judge Paul Watson KC was presiding over cases in both Grimsby and Hull just a few weeks before his sad death. He came out of retirement to serve as a judge last year.

His Honour Judge Francis Paul Watson KC died on December 4, 2024 aged 71. Fellow judges Siobhan Kelly, Gary Burrell KC, Graham Robinson and Rachael Harrison paid tribute to the esteemed colleague.

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Judge Watson retired in February last year from the Circuit Bench as Resident Judge in Teesside, although he sat thereafter as a Circuit Judge sitting in retirement. "He was a well-respected and well-loved Judge and member of Circuit," the judges said.

He was born in Harrogate on 10 September 1953 into an Army family. After early years living in Cyprus, he was educated at Churchers College, Petersfield, a boarding school in Hampshire, read law at Leeds Polytechnic and was called to the Bar in 1978 by Gray’s Inn.

Paul’s legal career began as a Magistrates Court Clerk in Sheffield before returning to his Army family, joining the Army Legal Corps in 1980. It was at the start of his legal career that Paul met his wife Sally, on New Year’s Eve 1978/1979. They married in 1980 and their son Richard was born in 1982. They have been steadfastly by his side ever since.

As well as time spent at Aldershot, Paul also spent time in West Germany in Berlin, Bielefeld and Herford. Paul was unsurprisingly promoted to the rank of Major in 1983.

He was then posted to the USA in Charlotteville, Virginia as part of the Judge Advocate General Corps as a legal advisor to the special forces in the SE District. He relished the opportunity later in his career at the Bar to represent soldiers at Courts Martial in Colchester and in Brunei.

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Happily for the North Eastern Circuit, an Army Legal Corps colleague mentioned to him that he might be cut out for a career at the Bar. He became pupil to Alan Goldsack in 1985 at Campo Lane Chambers. In due course, Campo Lane became Paradise Chambers. Paul took silk in 2002, becoming the first Army Legal Services officer to do so, a fact of which he was justifiably proud.

He became Head of Chambers. He always had a vision for the future and was pivotal in bringing about the very successful merger of Paradise Chambers with St John’s Buildings in 2011.

Paul was appointed as a Circuit Judge in 2012 initially to Sheffield Crown Court, before later becoming the Honorary Recorder of Hull and East Riding sitting as Resident Judge in Hull Crown Court. In 2020 he was appointed as a Senior Circuit Judge becoming the Honorary Recorder of Middlesbrough sitting as Resident Judge in Teesside Crown Court, which he felt was a great honour as a lifelong North Easterner and supporter of the ‘Boro.

Paul always loved his legal life. His wife Sally said: "The law wasn’t just his job, but also his hobby”. Whilst that was undoubtedly true, it was not his love of the law nor the fact that he was a talented advocate that made everybody love him. Paul was just a good bloke. To describe him as such is not in any way to diminish him, nor the very real impact he had on Bar and Bench alike. He was funny, approachable, inclusive and very human.

Paul’s sense of humour was ever present – a fabulous mixture of keen observation and bad dad jokes with an edge of naughtiness. A good example of his wit was his suggestion whilst still in the Army Legal Corps that their motto should be “Who Cares Who Wins?”.

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On his retirement at Teesside he recalled listening to horrific details of murders, rapes and sex crimes hasn't left him cynical about human nature. "I'm terribly, terribly trusting" he smiled, taking off his wig and looking around him at the piles of law books and personal belongings packed up in his office. "I'm the one who would give their pin number out to the chap on the phone.

"I do also see - sometimes - the good in people. We don't send people to prison because we want to. We send them to prison because we have no alternative. "If there's any way, bearing in mind the public interest, to avoid a custodial sentence, it's worth trying. I've seen wrecks of human beings. Given a chance - with drug rehabilitation support put in place - three, or four months later, they come back to court a different person."

He said it was "a pleasure and a privilege to be resident judge in my home town."

It was at Paradise Chambers that Paul became good friends with HH Gary Burrell KC who introduced him to sailing. They sailed a lot together becoming co-owners of a Westerly Storm 32 yacht (moored in Lymington where Gary lived after his appointment on the Western Circuit). Paul was a skilled sailor and navigator and they cruised the Solent and crossed the channel many times to Brittany and beyond.

The judges said: "Paul was a great and faithful friend to many. He genuinely cared about his friends and colleagues. He consistently supported and encouraged the junior bar in chambers and beyond. He was always approachable and could be relied upon to give considered and good advice when needed, often over a pint or a glass of wine. He had lifelong friendships with those who shared his passions – football, his beloved ‘Boro, sailing, music and the law.

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"He did not shout about his accomplishments in the law and beyond. He worked hard and showed initiative throughout his life to do what was needed to succeed in any particular challenge. He made garden gnomes and drove buses between Middlesbrough and Whitby to pay for bar exams.

"He persuaded the Bar Council that a conviction for driving a bus without due care and attention whilst driving the Middlesbrough to Whitby route wasn’t a problem for his being called to the Bar. He moved the members of Paradise Chambers with tact and diplomacy from an initially fractured position about a merger with St Johns Buildings to being wholly united about it. He was also a contributing author to a forensic pathology textbook on the role of the expert witness.

"There are a lot of people on the North Eastern Circuit and beyond who have lost a dear friend. We will miss his smile and cheery “Whatcha!” when he came in a room and greeted you. We will miss his optimism.

"We will miss the thought and care he put into all he did, even though he somehow persuaded you that everything was done on the spur of the moment or without much preparation. In short, we will miss him enormously. Our sincere condolences are sent especially to Sally and Richard, and to all who loved him."