Judge was ‘a small nail in the democratic system’

JUDGE Michael Pattwell, who sits for the last time today after 21 years on the bench, said he felt “honoured to be part of the system that puts people’s rights to the forefront”.

Some people, Judge Pattwell acknowledged, had nicknamed him “padlock,” but the court, the judge said, was never about punishing people but rather about “vindicating the rights of people who had been wronged.”

In Midleton District Court yesterday, he said: “I believed in the system. If I was a bit harsh and fearsome at times… I demanded respect for the system.