Judge's threat to ex-wife's new partner: 'I'll make you pay for this... creep'

A judge was sentenced to 50 hours' community work yesterday for threatening his ex-wife's new boyfriend.

A court heard that His Honour Lincoln Crawford OBE called Dominic Buttimore a creep and warned: 'I'm going to make you pay.'

Crawford pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order intended to stop him harassing Bronwen Jenkins and Mr Buttimore.

It was the third criminal conviction for Crawford, who earlier this year lost a High Court battle to hush up the case.

A senior judge supported the Daily Mail's challenge to a gagging order which stopped the press reporting his two harassment convictions in 2006 and two unsuccessful appeals.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard yesterday that the barrister accosted Mr Buttimore at a school barbecue attended by Crawford's young daughter and son from his marriage to Miss Jenkins, the daughter of 1970s firebrand union leader Clive Jenkins.

He told Mr Buttimore: 'What are you doing with my children? You will pay for this.'

Crawford later returned and added: 'You will pay for this - I will make you pay for this', and called Mr Buttimore a 'creep'.

Crawford, who has been suspended from sitting as a recorder - a part-time judge - later claimed he was provoked by Mr Buttimore who he said had attended the event in July last year to 'cause trouble'.

Crawford, 61, who boasts on his chambers website that he is a race relations adviser to the Government, initially denied five charges of breaching the restraining order. But yesterday he changed his plea to guilty on one of the five. He still denies the other four - which include allegedly telling his former wife: 'I'm going to kill you' - and they have been left to lie on file with the agreement of the prosecution.

The order was imposed by magistrates in May 2006 when Crawford was convicted of a campaign of harassment against solicitor Miss Jenkins and Mr Buttimore, both 44.

Ronald Thwaites, defending, said his client was a distinguished barrister with a long history of public service, and argued that it had been only a 'technical breach' of the order. He said Crawford's remarks to Mr Buttimore had meant: 'It is not appropriate for you to be here on this occasion.'

'I really hope we can all move on': Bronwyn Jenkins and Dominic Buttimore arriving at court

But Judge Aiden Marron QC rejected this and told Crawford he faces the ignominy of carrying out community service.

Referring to the 18-month conditional discharge magistrates gave Crawford in 2006, the judge continued: 'You were given a clear chance to improve your conduct.'

He said he had considered a prison term but had decided the appropriate sentence was 50 hours of unpaid work.

Crawford refused to comment, but his solicitor James Saunders said his client was not afraid of 'sweeping streets or painting bus shelters' provided it did not interfere with voluntary work he did.

Crawford came to Britain at 18, as a penniless immigrant from Trinidad, and worked his way up to become a senior lawyer and public figure.

He was called to the Bar in 1977, awarded the OBE in 1988 and sat on the Parole Board, the Prince's Trust and the Commission for Racial Equality. His ambition was to become Britain's first black High Court judge.

He married Miss Jenkins, head of employment law at Irwin Mitchell, in 1999 but they separated within four years. She is now engaged to Mr Buttimore, a film animator.

Crawford became 'totally obsessed' with his ex-wife's new relationship. He once accused her of 'shagging up with a white man' - falling foul of the Race Relations Act and worsening the harassment charge against him.

Outside court yesterday, Miss Jenkins said: 'I really hope we can all move on. None of it has given me any joy at all.'