Judge, daughter of Jamaican immigrants, arrested in the UK

One of  Britain’s few black women judges, who shot to prominence six years ago with a memoir about her tough early life, has been arrested and questioned by police. 

Fifty-five -year-old Constance Briscoe, who is of  Jamaican parentage, was arrested in Clapham, south-west London, on the weekend by officers from Kent.

She was later released on bail pending further inquiries. 

A spokeswoman for the Office for Judicial Complaints said the Lord Chief  Justice and Lord Chancellor had suspended Constance Briscoe from the judiciary pending the outcome of  a police investigation into allegations against her.

The spokeswoman said it would be inappropriate to comment further while the probe is in progress.

     Ms. Briscoe, the daughter of  Jamaican immigrants, is one of  the better-known members of  the legal profession owing to her writing, an appearance on the BBC television programme ‘Question Time’ and regular mentions in the society pages of  newspapers.