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Judge Gerald Price has been suspended over accusations regarding his relationship with a rent boyA senior criminal judge has been suspended following allegations surrounding an affair with a male prostitute.
Judge Gerald Price QC was stood down until an investigation is completed into his conduct during a relationship with a rent boy 35 years his junior.
The judge, who is married, was said to have invited the prostitute to sit beside him during court hearings, to have taken him along on official business trips, and to have helped provide him with a defence against a criminal charge of being drunk on a train.
Judge Price, a £129,000-a-year senior circuit judge in South Wales, is said to have begun a relationship with 25-year-old Christopher Williams after contacting him through an escort website.
He has not been sitting in court since the allegations were published in a Sunday newspaper nine days ago.
The decision to suspend him formally was taken by Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge and Lord Chancellor Jack Straw.
A statement from the Office for Judicial Complaints, which is running the inquiry into Judge Price, said: 'Having considered the allegations against Judge Price, the Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor have decided that he should be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation by the Office for Judicial Complaints into his conduct.'
The 60-year-old judge has stood unsuccessfully as a Tory parliamentary candidate in three general elections, and has been an Anglican lay preacher for 40 years.
Judge Price is understood to have provided a detailed account of his behaviour to the senior judiciary.
The inquiry will decide if he broke the Guide to Judicial Conduct which says a judge 'shall conduct himself or herself in a way that is consistent with the dignity of the judicial office.'
Mr Williams told the News of the World that Judge Price told him that 'I was his birthday present to himself.'
He claimed to have been paid £250 to stay at the judge's second home near Carmarthen and to have stayed in hotels in the Midlands and London accompanying Judge Price while he was taking part in seminars and committees.
Mr Williams said the judge arranged for him to sit alongside him on the court bench as he heard cases, gave him access to his chambers at court, and gave advice when he faced the drunkenness charge, for which he was ultimately bound over.
Lawyers acting for Judge Price have said he has denied some of the claims and they have indicated the judge believes publication of the allegations has invaded his privacy and is not in the public interest.
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