Northern Ireland

For Lord Justice Sir John MacDermott dies

Sir John MacDermott was made a judge in 1973
Sir John MacDermott was made a judge in 1973 Sir John MacDermott was made a judge in 1973

SIR John MacDermott, a former leading member of the judiciary whose father was once Northern Ireland's most senior judge, has died.

A former barrister who became a Queen's Counsel in 1964, Sir John was aged in his mid-nineties.

Together with his father Lord John MacDermott, a former Lord Chief Justice , the pair's involvement with the regional judiciary spanned more than half-a-century, ending with Sir John's retirement from the bench in 1998.

Sir John, who studied both at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and Queen's University Belfast, was called to the Bar in 1949 and made a judge in 1973. Following the IRA murder of Lord Justice Gibson in 1987, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

In a statement last night, the Law Society said: "The Law Society of Northern Ireland notes with regret the passing of Sir John MacDermott, former Lord Justice of Appeal and a highly respected member of the Northern Ireland judiciary."