Popular Northland judge farewelled on last day sitting in Kaitaia

Judge Keith de Ridder enjoying his farewell morning tea at the Kaitaia District Court.

Those who frequent the Kaitaia courts, particularly the District Court, have long favoured some judges over others. In days gone by the presence of one regarded as stern would prompt a spate of non-appearances as word got around, while more sympathetic ones would prompt a rush of voluntary appearances.

Last week one of the latter was farewelled as his final day sitting in Kaitaia drew to a close.

Judge Keith de Ridder, who had been coming to Kaitaia regularly since 2005, received warm praise from all, from prosecutors and defence counsel, and those who serve the court in a variety of capacities, which according to lawyer Richard Parangi spoke volumes about the way he had served the community.

Those tributes included one from Oranga Tamariki's Michelle Tapara, who said news that he would be presiding had always been well received with variations of "Yay! It's Judge de Ridder!"

Clients were, however, always reminded that they should not be late.

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As is the tradition in Kaitaia, his final sitting was marked with a gathering of those who had worked with him over the years, with a (very healthy) morning tea and the presentation of a flax kete, made by registrar Tania Parker, full of "Kaitaia stuff", from condiments to crackers and cheese sticks to a jar of lawyer Wayne Cribb's honey.

The Belgian chocolates were not technically locally made, but had been bought at Pak'nSave, so made the cut.

The kete, Parker pointed out, had been specifically designed to be filled with tuatua, "but not the really big ones".

Meanwhile, Muriel Masters (Bail Support Services, formerly Corrections), spoke for all when she said Judge de Ridder's calm approach to the way he ran his court had always been appreciated, with Natalie Rameka (Corrections) adding that patience had been one of his most admired qualities. Corrections, in 2005, had been "pretty rough", she said, but everyone was older and wiser now, and Judges de Ridder, John McDonald and Duncan Harvey had all contributed to that.

Shane Godinet (court security) echoed those sentiments, crediting the "triumvirate" of judges for giving security staff the leeway to do what needed to be done, and making it clear that the buck stopped at the bench, a philosophy that had since spread to other courts.

For his part, Judge de Ridder said he had always enjoyed his time in Kaitaia, and praised the manner in which the court was managed and functioned.

His arrival had coincided with then Chief District Court Judge the late Russell Johnson addressing concerns that the community was not being served as well as it might have been by rotating judges, depriving the court of consistency and at times revealing a lack of local knowledge, with the appointment of resident judges.

His roots, he said, were in Wellington, but he had no plans to leave Whangārei when he formally retired from the bench next year, although Thursday might not have been his final sitting in Kaitaia.

Parker said it was not out of the question that he would be called upon to preside on a temporary warrant, although there were no guarantees he would be rostered to Kaitaia in the event of his being needed.

She and her staff had been determined not to let him slip away unacknowledged, however.

"Judge, being of an introverted nature, would have wanted to leave without any fuss, but we could not let him preside, possibly for the last time, without some recognition of his time here," she said.