For the last fourteen years court 4.6 at Liverpool's Queen Elizabeth 11 law courts has been "home" to just one judge.But now Judge Richard Pickering has hung up his robes and wig for the last time and plans to devote his time to less taxing affairs.

Defendants who have been tried in his court - both the guilty and innocent - may not miss him, as his colleagues will, but none could say they had been treated with anything except unfailing fairness and courtesy.

Almost an old-fashioned concept these days, courtesy, but it has always been one of Richard Pickering's hallmarks.

Admittedly, during sentencing such politeness sometimes lulled defendants into a false sense of security, for within the velvet glove could lie an iron fist.

"Now, Mr . . . ," he would softly begin, and rehearse all the points of their mitigation.

Then, after moving onto the facts of the case, with an increase in tempo and firmness almost imperceptible to the unwary, he would reach the peak - by which time the miscreant was left in no doubt at all about how just badly they had behaved.

And-with a judicial sweep of his arm he would order the dock officer to "take him to the cells."

His politeness and charm have always been matched by his keen intellect and few, if any, culprits successfully pulled the wool over his eyes during the 17 years he has been a circuit judge.

While his court was run with traditional elaborate formality - often now lacking in other courtrooms - counsel appearing before him were always happy to do so, for the stuff of law can be tedious and dull and a sense of humour is invaluable.

And, strange though it may sound, never more so than in long complex fraud trials, in which Judge Pickering so ably specialised, including the trial of the city's former architect, James Robb.

"I have enjoyed the lighter moments of life in court, even in long drawn-out cases," he said.

The longest serving criminal judge in the Derby Square complex, Judge Pickering is very much against proposals to dispense with juries in fraud cases

"I am in favour of juries in fraud cases. Juries are well able to make out what is honest and what is dishonest. The purpose of having skilled advocates is to ensure the jury understand the allegations and help them cut through smoke screens. I have always found that juries become more and more interested as the case goes along. And I have always considered that their verdict was a thoughtful one, never just hit or miss. I would be very sorry, and the public in general ought to be, if the right to trial by jury is taken away," he said.

Although Judge Pickering read History at Magdalene College, Cambridge, he always knew that he wanted to be a barrister so made law his career and history, particularly military, his enduring hobby.

Born in Liverpool, ironically just yards from Judges Drive in Newsham Park, his family later moved across the water and he was educated at Birkenhead School. His life-long problem of asthma ruled out military service and led to a lengthy spell in Liverpool's former Northern Hospital before being called to the Bar in 1953 by Lincoln's Inn.

He joined chambers in Liverpool's Castle Street and was a busy practitioner with a varied practice before being appointed as a judge in 1981. After almost three years at Manchester Crown Court he was re-located to Liverpool where he has been a familiar and popular face ever since.

His entrance into his courtroom was always unfailingly the same and a sight to behold - an amazing stately gliding motion to his chair. None could ever reproduce it but over the years local barrister Philip Hall has become a renowned mimic of his endearing mannerisms and particular verbal style. Over the years he has frequently left colleagues helpless with laughter but it has always been a gentle fun which Judge Pickering himself appreciated, rightly knowing it sprang from affection.

Aged 68, Judge Pickering could easily continue at the job he always loved, for a few more years but he decided it was time to go.

"I decided to stop while I was still enjoying it, to go while I regret leaving," he explained, adding that he has never found a case boring. There is a time for judging and a time to cease from judging and I have reached that time so I will go," he said.

But though his hobbies of gardening and walking will occupy many hours he is not completely vanishing professionally as he is continuing as a chairman of the North-West Mental Health Tribunal.

Judge Pickering, who lives in Caldy, Wirral, with his wife Jean, is also looking forward to the birth of their first grand-child later this year. The couple have two sons, one, the prospective father, is a barrister in London and the other an accountant with a local cotton brokers.