England: UK’s first ethnic minority judge dies

The UK’s first-ever ethnic minority judge, Sir Mota Singh QC, died on Friday at the age of 86, The Metro reports.

Sir Mota, a Ramgarhia Sikh, was born in 1930 in Nairobi, Kenya and came to England in 1953 to study. He joined the English bar in 1967 and was appointed to the bench in 1982.

He was the first judge to sit on the English bench wearing a turban instead of a horse-hair wig.

In 2010, he received a knighthood for his services to the administration of justice and community relations.

His wife, Swaran Kaur, said: “He was a wonderful person who achieved so much in his life. He was so hard working.”