Legal fraternity toasts Dame Sandra

Governor General Dame Sandra Mason was the toast of the legal fraternity yesterday as her former colleagues feted her recent elevation from judge to the post. And she has missed them, she acknowledged yesterday.

Dame Sandra was the guest of honour at a luncheon at Cin Cin Restaurant which was attended by Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson, retired and current Justices of Appeal and judges, members of the magistracy, including Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch, Queen’s Counsel, attorneys and members of the Registration Department.

“On this occasion I would want to start really by saying thank you to all you people here. As the Registrar [Barbara Cooke-Alleyne] said you were persons who I asked specially. And they know I miss them terribly. Every morning I wake up I think about the courts,” she said, as she saved a special “thank you” for her long-term “quintessential” secretary Angelina Blackman.

The Governor General said each of the invitees had an impact on her life at some stage and she would treasure those moments.

Earlier, Queen’s Counsel Patterson Cheltenham, Director of Public Prosecutions Donna Babb-Agard QC and Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch had regaled the audience with their recollections and interactions with Dame Sandra during her time on the bench. (HLE)