John Stuart Forbes, sheriff at Dunfermline for 22 years, has died aged 85.
During his time on the bench, Sheriff Forbes, known as Stuart, had to deal with the wave of crime caused by drug addiction.
When he retired in 2002 he said it would be his wish to see an inpatient treatment facility built in Fife to break the cycle of addiction that had gripped so many people.
Groundbreaking
He also made legal history in 1988 by ordering a report into a teenage offender’s body chemistry.
The girl had been repeatedly smashing the windows of a Fife school and not even psychiatrists could find a reason for her behaviour.
Stuart was born in Glasgow in 1936, the eldest son of Annie Robertson Stuart and John Forbes.
He attended Giffnock primary school from 1941, and then Glasgow High School from 1945 to 1953.
Higher education
Later that year he went on to Glasgow University where he completed an MA in chemistry and French and, in 1959, his LLB in law.
At this time Stuart stayed at home with his family, and to help fund his academic career, did various jobs including working on a farm and at the Penguin biscuit factory.
He started his legal career as a solicitor in a Glasgow firm McLay Murray and Spens and was called to the Bar in 1962.
Move to the bench
After 13 years as an advocate Stuart changed direction and became a sheriff in 1976.
He was a floating sheriff for a number of years before being appointed sheriff at Dunfermline in 1980.
His aim in his final years as a sheriff was to sit on the bench in all of the sheriff courts in Scotland and he managed all but two.
Marriage
Stuart met his future wife, Marion, in September, 1962 and the couple married on December 23 the following year. They went on to have three of a family: Lesley, Gillian and Alastair, as well as five grandchildren.
He had many interests which kept him occupied outside of work both during his professional life and following his retirement.
A keen sportsman, he was a lifelong tennis player, he played golf at Milnathort, was a walker and curler, and took up fishing and shooting in later life.
Adventure
On a trip to Chile when he was 60, Stuart went white water rafting and when visiting Kenya aged 80, he abseiled down a cliff.
The French language was another passion and he loved watching his son and grandson play rugby.
Stuart was a life trustee of the Carnegie Trust, Dunfermline, and Hero Fund Trusts, and a trustee of the Carnegie Trust, UK.