A FORMER top judge in Bradford who became the scourge of street drug dealers and dangerous drivers today retired from the Bench.

Judge Roger Thomas QC was Recorder of Bradford for four and a half years, leaving five years ago after committing himself to addressing the prevalence of Class A drug misuse in the city and dangerous driving by young men in fast and powerful cars.

He commanded great respect attracting the comment on the T&A website: 'nice one Thomo. Now keep sending them down',” when he jailed a dangerous driver.

Today, he stepped down from his role as a judge at Sheffield Crown Court to become a Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire.

At a Valedictory to say farewell, The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, said the court centre would be lost without Judge Thomas.

He was the kindest and most civilised of men and “a class act as a judge,” and would be greatly missed, he said.

Judge Thomas, 67, was praised for his work in Bradford at his leaving ceremony at the Crown Court in April, 2017.

Solicitor advocate Andrew Walker told a packed courtroom on that occasion: “He set a new world record for jailing the most drug dealers in a six month period under Opera-tion Stalebank.

“One has only to read the comments section of the local paper online to see the respect he commands. When he recently jailed a dangerous driver, the top comment was 'nice one Thomo. Now keep sending them down'."

When Judge Thomas stood down as Recorder of Bradford he ended a 40 year association with the city.

He told the Telegraph & Argus at that time: "I have always felt very loyal and committed to Bradford and I have always done my best for the city."

In recent years, the courts had particularly addressed the prevalence of Class A drug misuse and dangerous driving by young men in fast and powerful cars, he said.

"It is not just bad driving, it is bad driving that carries the risk of damage, injury and even death," he said.

He recalled telling a dangerous driver and a drug dealer he jailed they must be living on the planet Zog if they were from Bradford and did not know what sentence they would receive!

"I hope I have made a mark in that sense. It’s not that I enjoy sending people to prison but it is a question of reinforcing the court's dissatisfaction and sending out that deter-rent message, hoping to stop other people doing it."

Judge Thomas continued: "We are reflecting and reacting to what is happening in the community and the real world and these are two things that decent people in Bradford want to see resolved."

Judge Thomas, a father of three and a keen skier and cricketer, was called to the Bar in 1976 and practised as a member of the Bradford barristers' chambers until 2004, when he was appointed a judge on the Northern Circuit.

He told today’s Valedictory that 25 years ago to the day he had a terrible skiing accident in France. He took a year to recover and was then made a Queen’s Counsel.

He was Recorder of Bradford from 2012 until 2017 and it was a hard five years, Judge Thomas said. “The responsibility and work of a residential judge is very substantial,” he said.

He had then ended his career at Sheffield Crown Court, spending five happy years in the city.

Judge Thomas said he would spend a lot of time in retirement at Headingley watching all the international cricket he could and enjoy spending more time with his family.