AFTER three decades doling out justice a district judge says he is stepping down to “enjoy life”.

District Judge Bruce Morgan says he will miss “the buzz” of the city’s magistrates court after seven years in Worcestershire and 27 years as a judge.

But he is also “concerned” over the damage public spending cuts may do to the justice system.

Mr Morgan sits for the final time today before retiring to the country.

“You work for decades and are dead for centuries,” he said.

“I want to enjoy life while I have time.”

The 66-year-old steps down at a time of upheaval with all branches feeling the squeeze, from defence advocates getting reduced legal aid, to spending cuts in the courts themselves.

Mr Morgan said he was concerned about the quality of justice available to British people if the cuts continued. But he praised the professionalism of the justice system from the police to the court staff who continue to “maintain the highest standards”.

The father-of-two said he had witnessed the growing complexity of the law in his 48-year legal career.

He praised a change in attitudes towards “the cancer of domestic violence in society.”

“Years ago, it was very much a case of ‘well, it’s only his wife, or common law wife’ but nowadays it’s different,” he said.

“The police in particular are to be praised for the way they deal with domestic violence.”

Mr Morgan also revealed it was “unheard of” to come across any cases of drug-related crime in his early years, but “now a vast amount of the work before me is committed under the influence of, or in order to obtain drugs.”

Mr Morgan also said the amount of violence-related cases had grown. But he said a beneficial change was the creation of greater powers to protect the vulnerable in court, for example through the introduction of screens for some witnesses and victims.

In his long career he said the “most emotionally draining cases” involved family separations and having to rule on visiting rights for the children.

“You are a human being, and you have human feelings, but you must put those to one side and do what the law allows within the guidelines available to you,” he said.

Court staff, Crown Prosecution Service staff, defence advocates and others toasted Judge Morgan at the magistrates court yesterday.