A SHAMED judge who was convicted of failing to control her dangerous dog will face no further disciplinary action, it has emerged.
Beatrice Bolton, from Rothbury, Northumberland, made headlines when she swore and stormed out of court during her appearance before magistrates in Carlisle.
Now it has emerged the judge will escape further punishment after retiring on medical grounds.
Ms Bolton, who sat at Newcastle Crown Court, was convicted of allowing her pet German shepherd to bite her 20-year-old neighbour, Frederick Becker. During the hearing, Bolton was heard yelling: “I’ll never set foot in this court again.”
A spokeswoman for the Office for Judicial Complaints said: “After receiving a number of complaints about comments reportedly made by Ms Beatrice Bolton, a circuit judge, following her conviction under the Dangerous Dogs Act, the Office for Judicial Complaints investigated the matter in accordance with the Judicial Discipline Regulations 2006.
“The judge has, however, retired on medical grounds before the disciplinary process was formally concluded.
“As a result, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice have decided no further disciplinary action is required.”
The spokeswoman added that Ms Bolton’s retirement took effect from January 1. She was later taken back into court and asked to apologise for her outburst at the December 2010 hearing.
After apologising, she was then fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £275 compensation to the victim, plus £930 court costs and a £15 surcharge.
Ms Bolton, who was asked by the court usher during the two-day trial to stop chewing gum, had denied a single charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
During the trial, the former judge was labelled the neighbour from hell by Mr Becker’s parents, David and Anne Malia.
They described living in terror of the animal and kept a log of incidents in which the pedigree animal strayed on to their land.
The Malias clashed repeatedly with the judge, demanding she keep the German shepherd, named Georgina, tethered up, the court was told. Their son, Frederick “Fritz” Becker, was lying on the lawn at his parents’ home when the then seven-month-old bitch went for him on May 31, 2010. It charged towards him, barking, and then bit his leg.
The bite tore through his tracksuit trousers and caused a bruise and a cut to his left leg. Ms Bolton apologised to him immediately after the attack.
Ms Bolton was called to the bar in 1975, before becoming Assistant Recorder in 1994 and Recorder between 1994 and 2001.