Mold Crown Court judge heralded after his passing, aged 91

His Honour Eifion Roberts, who has passed away at the age of 91, sat at Mold Crown Court and Chester Crown Court for many years when the two court complexes were part of the former Wales and Chester circuit, adjudicating over criminal, civic and family proceedings.

Before his elevation to the bench he made his name as a QC. His last case at the Bar at Cardiff was as a leading counsel for the crown in a marathon South Wales corruption case, which lasted from October 1976 to July 1977. It was viewed as the most complex case in the history of the Welsh Circuit at the time.

Regarded as “wise and sage in his advice, always measured, courteous and perceptive”, tributes have been paid to his Honour at Mold Crown Court by members of the Judiciary and The Bar.

One of his younger colleagues said: “Eifion Roberts was a giant among advocates, the example that he set for all of us who came after him continues to this day.”

Mr Roberts was born in Llansadwrn in Anglesey to a Presbyterian Minister father and a mother who was a school teacher. He read law at Aberystwyth and Oxford Universities and was called to the Bar at Grays’s Inn in 1953.

In 1977 he was elevated to the Circuit Bench and served as a Judge for 22 years, mainly in North Wales, until his retirement.

Mr Roberts also served as Deputy Commissioner on the Boundaries Commission for Wales and on the Crawford Committee for Broadcasting.

For 25 years he was a member of the governing body of Bangor University and for 10 of those its chairman. In recognition of his contribution to the legal profession and the University he was awarded a Honorary Fellowship in 2009.

He was also a member of the Council of the University of Wales where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law.

He was also an elder and Secretary of the Welsh Presbyterian Church in St John’s Street in Chester were a service to celebrate his life will be held on Saturday, November 9 at 11.30 am.