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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/controversial-exjudge-dies-aged-85.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The controversial former judge James Pickles has died aged 85" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-controversial-exjudge-dies-aged-85.jpg" alt="The controversial former judge James Pickles has died aged 85"/></a></p>
<p>The controversial former judge James Pickles has died aged 85, it has emerged.</p>
<p>Judge Pickles, who flouted the voluntary code that the judiciary do not speak out in public, and criticised the legal system for being infected by conservatism, complacency and conformity, died on Saturday at his home in Halifax.</p>
<p>One of his sons, Simon, said that he had been unwell for a couple of years, though he remained keenly interested in current affairs.</p>
<p>Judge Pickles, nephew of the broadcaster Wilfred Pickles, hit the headlines on a number of occasions for his sentencing decisions and his criticism of those at the top of the judicial hierarchy.</p>
<p>The decision to jail a young mother for helping shoplifters and send her 10-week-old baby to prison with her sparked a furore.</p>
<p>He was also criticised by the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, after he jailed a young mother who refused to give evidence against her former boyfriend.</p>
<p>MPs and women&#8217;s groups were furious and the Court of Appeal quashed the decision.</p>
<p>But the judge was unapologetic: &#8220;The only sentence people really take notice of is loss of liberty.&#8221;</p>
<p>He called for legal brothels and relaxation of the drug laws, saying they served only to hound people and encouraged robbery by pushing up prices.</p>
<p>He retired from the bench in 1991.</p>
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