'End of era' as tributes are paid to senior judge

TRIBUTES have been paid to a senior judge whose passing has been described as "the end of an era".

- JASON EVANS

In a long legal career John Diehl was the resident judge at Swansea Crown Court for a decade and also sat in the civil court, the Old Bailey, and the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.

During his time on the bench he presided over some of Wales's biggest cases, including the trial of ostrich fraudster turned drug lord Martin Evans.

The current resident judge in Swansea said his predecessor was a "consummate lawyer with a razor sharp legal mind" who set very high standards for himself and expected the same of all those who appeared before him.

Educated at Swansea's Bishop Gore School and Aberystwyth University, the future judge was a lecturer in Sheffield for three years - where he supplemented his income by working as a bus driver - before being called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1968.

As a barrister he joined Swansea's Angel Chambers in 1969 and subsequently sat as a recorder - a part-time judge - and then a full-time judge.