HM the Queen has appointed Ian Simon Thorp to be a District Judge on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, the Right Honourable Jack Straw MP. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, has assigned him to the North Eastern Circuit, based at Sunderland County Court with effect from Monday 19 May 2008.
http://www.gnn.gov.uk//Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=367801&NewsAreaID=2
seen at 03:15, 19 May in Ministry of Justice - Judicial Appointments News - national.