I have always enjoyed articles in the Gazette by James Morton, including a recent item about judges.

I first saw Lord Goddard in the late 50s, while an articled clerk in London. I often dropped in to the Royal Courts of Justice for a bit of light relief from outdoor chores (stamping documents, issuing writs, visiting the Land Registry in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, etc, etc).

I liked Goddard’s court because one could usually hear appeals against sentence which, particularly in his case, were very quickly dispatched.

Although I sometimes found Goddard alarming, I never saw him pick his nose. However, he did provoke a favourable comment from an elderly lady watching the proceedings who, on Goddard dismissing an appeal, and in a voice not very sotto, said: ‘Oooh, isn’t he nice.’ Her friend nodded vigorously in agreement. Clearly the former must have been deaf, or she was speaking ironically.

Chris Torrance (retired), Bristol