SOUTH Wiltshire judge Keith Cutler has been appointed judge in residence at Salisbury Crown Court.

Judge Cutler (52), who lives in West Gomeldon and is a churchwarden at St Nicholas' Church, Porton, takes over the role from Judge David Maclaren Webster QC, who retired earlier this year.

Judge Cutler, who was called to the bar in 1972, was a well-known barrister in Winchester, Salisbury and Southampton Crown Courts, both as a prosecutor and defence lawyer, before ascending to the bench. He became an assistant recorder in 1989, a recorder in 1993 and a circuit judge on the Western Circuit in 1996.

As a judge, he has presided over crown courts in Wiltshire and Hampshire and as far as Bristol.

Judge Cutler and his wife Judith have two children, James and Anna, and he lists his interests as church music, Italian food and keeping fit.