A Kent court has this month bid farewell to two criminal judges who take with them more than a decade of experience.

Judges Catherine Brown and Rupert Lowe’s departure from Canterbury Crown Court’s bench now leaves east Kent with just three full-time judges.

During their tenure on the South Eastern circuit, the duo have presided over some of the county’s most high-profile and newsworthy criminal cases.

Judge Brown in 2019 oversaw the trial of a gang who raked in almost £250,000 by ​​​​​stealing and selling tobacco from their high security workplace.

The men worked at the East Kent Waste Recovery Facility in Sandwich, then run by Augean, which had a contract to incinerate high-value seized goods on behalf of Border Force officials.

They were caught when staff spotted the contraband hidden around the site - where it was due to be destroyed - and set up a covert camera during 2016 and 2017.

Judge Brown handed the five-strong-gang a combined prison spell of 14 years, after they were convicted of conspiracy to steal.

And in 2019, Judge Lowe jailed father and son Petr and Mario Makula for their part in a modern slavery and people trafficking ring in Dover.

Petr Makula, 48 and his son Mario, 26, threatened and beat their victims, leaving them too scared to complain.

Their victims, who were lagely eastern European and spoke no English, were forced to work up to 36-hours at a time doing hard manual labour, often without any holiday.

Meanwhile the father and son spent thousands on lavish cars, holidays and jewellery while exploiting their victims for about a decade.

Petr was jailed for eight-and-a-half years, and his son for four-and-a-half years.

Judge Catherine Brown undertook her pupilage at 12 King’s Bench Walk chambers in London from 1990 - 1991, soon becoming one of just three female tenants.

Appointed as a recorder in Wales in 2008 - otherwise known as a part-time judge – she was made a circuit judge in June 2018.

Now Judge Brown will sit as the Designated Civil Judge for Kent.

Judge Rupert Lowe took a comparatively unconventional route into law.

Graduating from Cambridge University in English Literature in 1985, he spent most of his twenties teaching English as a foreign language in France and Italy.

On returning to the UK, he became the founding headteacher at Bath Small School from 1993 - 1996.

Judge Lowe would turn his attention to studying law aged 33 and was called to the Bar in 1998, practising as a criminal barrister in Bristol.

Appointed as a recorder on the South Eastern Circuit in 2012, he became a full-time judge at Canterbury Crown Court in 2016, with a weekly commute from Bristol.

Now, the 59-year-old is “going home” in a transfer to Gloucester Crown Court with feelings of "sorrow mingled with delight".

“Most crown courts deal with a similar basic mix of offences: violence, sexual offences, drugs, fraud et cetera,” he said.

“Canterbury has all of that, but is also one of the regional courts with a particular speciality, dealing with most of the cross-channel smuggling coming into East Kent: drugs, illegal entrants, bulk cash, and occasionally firearms," he explained.

“Being a combined court centre, Canterbury Law Courts has up to 10 full-time judges, and a good mix of recorders and visiting High Court judges, so it is a stimulating place to work," he added.

“The town itself is historic and beautiful."

Judge Lowe continued: "And so when the chance came to transfer back west, although the decision was in one sense a no-brainer, I leave Canterbury with many fond memories, and considerable sorrow mingled with my delight in ‘going home’.

“I will miss my colleagues, the excellent staff, and the courtroom advocates of Kent.”