Top judge was flood victim

District Judge Eric Dickinson, aged 68, died after his car was swept away by flood water while driving through a brook on his way home from work.

Mr Dickinson, who worked in Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Bromwich and Kidderminster, was driving home from sitting at Evesham magistrates court on Monday when he got into difficulty driving his Volvo estate through the flooded Bow Brook in Pershore.

Judge Dickinson raised the alarm at 3.40pm when he phoned his wife Gill at home in Leigh near Bransford to say he was in trouble. Mrs Dickinson contacted the police and a full scale search was launched.

The car was recovered by a police underwater dive team from South Wales around 7pm on Tuesday night. It was found 70 metres further down the brook from the crossing following an extensive search.

Judge Dickinson had worked on the West Midlands circuit for 23 years as a county court judge.

A former solicitor with Harrison Clarke of Worcester, he had always said he intended to work for as long as he could. Judges normally have to retire when they reach 72.

He leaves a widow, Gill, sons William and Mark and daughter Emma, six grand-children, and had lived in Leigh since 1973.

Judge Dickinson, who was originally from Flixton in Manchester had many interests including the Rotary Club of Worcester Severn, and Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

Paying tribute to his father, Judge Dickinson's younger son Mark said: "Anyone who came into contact with him will remember him. He was very much loved, not just by us, but by a wide community of people."