WITH his dapper attire and even more colourful dressings down, he became a familiar face – and voice – in Hampshire’s magistrates’ courts over the past four decades.

George Morgan-Harris’ colleagues have said a fond farewell to the 69-year-old, who has retired after 37 years serving as a magistrate in the county.

Entrepreneur and landowner Mr Morgan-Harris, who lives near Bursledon, was first appointed to the Eastleigh Bench in 1977 and has since been based in Southampton.

He was familiar to colleagues and criminals alike for both his smart attire, featuring red trousers and pocket handkerchiefs, and his blistering reprimands to those who appeared in the dock at his courts.

One of his most famous cases came in 1992 in Eastleigh, when he sentenced student John McIntyre for attacking then-Prime Minister John Major with an egg while he was campaigning in Hedge End.

As well as slapping the 25-year-old with a £100 fine, he also ordered that he pay Mr Major £10 in compensation to get his coat cleaned.