Old Bailey judge is questioned after crash puts cyclist in hospital

Judge Brian Barker QC, the Common Serjeant of London, the second most senior position at the criminal court, was on his way to work this morning when the collision happened.

His top-of-the-range Saab, complete with personalised number plates, was in contact with the cyclist yards from the court entrance.

The cyclist was taken to University College Hospital with shoulder injuries, while the judge, a father of three, was spoken to by City of London police officers.

A force spokesman said: "We are investigating a road traffic collision involving a car and a cyclist at the junction of Ludgate Hill and Ava Maria Lane. The incident took place at around

8.30am. There have been no arrests and details have been taken." A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 8.36am to Ava Maria Lane to reports of a road traffic collision involving a car and a bicycle.

"We sent one ambulance and a cycle responder to the scene. A 25-year-old male was taken to University College Hospital with shoulder injuries."

The judge is one of the most popular figures at the Old Bailey and is renown for his quiet sense of humour. He lists his hobbies as golf and sheep rearing.

Judge Barker was called to the Bar in 1969 and was a leading criminal barrister excelling as a prosecutor and a defender. He took silk in 1990.

A former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association and a Freeman of the City of London, he was appointed Common Serjeant at the Old Bailey in 2005 and, as such, has presided over some of England's most notorious criminal cases.

Judge Barker is married to Mrs Justice Rafferty QC, one of the country's few female High Court judges.

Ann Rafferty prosecuted Michael Stone, who murdered members of Josie Russell's family, and, as a judge, presided over the trials of royal butler Paul Burrell and teacher Sion Jenkins.