Judge on police bail for fraud

THE JUDICIARY is waiting the outcome of the arrest of Circuit judge Richard Gee last week for mortgage fraud.

Gee, appointed in 1991 and assigned to the south-eastern circuit, was called in to Belgravia Police Station last Wednesday evening and arrested for fraud alleged to have occurred between 1980 and 1989.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard confirmed "a 53-year-old man" had been bailed to return to Belgravia on a date in January, "pending further inquiry".

A statement issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department confirmed Gee had had his sitting suspended by Lord Mackay until the outcome of the police investigation was clear.

"At that stage, in the light of the outcome, a further decision will be made," said the statement.

Gee, admitted as a solicitor in 1968, worked as senior partner with South London firm JB Wheatley & Co prior to his appointment as a judge. Wheatleys senior partner John Perkins refused to comment on the matter.

"It has come as a shock to us," he said. "We only know what we read in the papers and I can't comment."