Judge Philip Cattan of Chester, UK; snoozing loser  

The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office found Judge Cattan guilty of the following misconduct.

In one matter, Cattan found it acceptable to fall asleep during a criminal trial during the testimony of a child abuse victim.

Due to Cattan’s slumbering on the bench, a retrial had to be ordered, which of course means that the abused child will be forced to testify for a second time. (Callum Paton)

While the jury was out of the room, Cattan was confronted with the claim that he had slept through part of the cross-examination of the child, who was giving evidence via video link because of her age.

The sleeping incident was witnessed by the family of the child in the trial of John Quigley, which was expected to last five days. The girl was the first of two young girls that were expected to testify that they were abused in offenses that took place from 2006 through 2013.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice punished Cattan by gifting him with a complimentary reprimand.

As we speak (ca. April 2015), Judge Cattan remains as a part time judge at Manchester Crown Court in Chester, United Kingdom.