City of London Magistrates Court was packed with legal representatives to mark the retirement of Diana Black after 38 years as a magistrate.

Mrs Black was first appointed at the age of 32 in Harrogate. She transferred to the City bench when her husband Judge Barrington Black, the Western Marble Arch Synagogue president, took up his appointment in London.

It is believed that she was the country’s longest serving magistrate and her last case involved a £39 million VAT fraud.