Judiciary mourns High Court judge Dame Frances Patterson, 62

HIGH Court judge Dame Frances Patterson former head of King’s Chambers in Manchester and Leeds, has died after “a short but very bravely borne illness”.

Dame Frances, 62, was appointed to the High Court Bench, assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division, in 2013 after a distinguished career at the Bar, where she specialised in planning, environmental and public law.

She took silk in 1998, and in 2004 became head of King’s. She was made a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2005, and a deputy High Court judge in 2008.

She was appointed Public Law Commissioner at the Law Commission for England and Wales in 2010.

In 2012 she was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Leicester, the University from which she had graduated in History. She leaves a husband Graham, and three sons, Oliver, Leo and Simon.

A statement from the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary said: “On behalf of the entire judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice wishes to record her outstanding contribution to the administration of justice and to the development of the law, which has been so tragically cut short.”