TO the public Judge John Hopkin will famously be remembered for standing up to a violent prisoner who jumped across three court benches to grab him.

Then aged 65, he came face-to-face with 20-year-old Damien Small and coolly said: "I'm not scared of you, sonny."

Judge Hopkin learned later that Small, then 20 and of Osborne Grove, Sherwood, had apparently misheard him as he sentenced him to three years in a young offenders' institution.

"He thought I'd given him 13 years or 30 years!"

Memories of that dramatic day in May 2001 have flooded back as colleagues and friends of the judge remember his life.

After a brief fight against cancer, he died aged 75, at home near Southwell, on Thursday.

Judge Michael Stokes, Recorder of Nottingham, recalled that, although Judge Hopkin was not large physically, he was, for decades, a towering presence on the legal scene in Nottingham both as a barrister and later as a wise, fair and compassionate judge. As counsel, he said, Judge Hopkin was shrewd, professional and effective. And he carried those virtues to the bench.

"He was my judicial pupil master when I became an Assistant Recorder in 1986 and when I became a circuit judge in 2001 he was still sitting as a judge in Nottingham having lost none of his enthusiasm and love of the job," said Judge Stokes.

Renowned for his red socks and bright ties, Judge Hopkin was the senior and resident judge at Nottingham.

The crown court building had affectionately become known to his colleagues as "Hoppo's bunker". No judge had ever matched the length of his Friday list, invariably completed by lunchtime.

"Never one for time wasting, he had an instinctive grasp of a case and could see the essential points rapidly and was not prepared to expend unnecessary time, energy or public money on irrelevant or peripheral issues," said Judge Stokes. "Those who were guilty soon came to learn that dragging out cases or putting forward ridiculous defences was not a course to be recommended. Nevertheless, John always recognised the constitutional importance of a jury making the decision."

When he retired in 2002, his court was packed with judges, counsel and solicitors.

Judge Stokes said: "We are all better for having known him and worked with him. We shall not see his like again."

Richard Bullock, head of legal practice at Freeth Cartwright in Nottingham and under Sheriff for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, said: "He was a warm, human man. He'd spend a lot of time with his children, grandchildren, garden and golf. He was a keen golfer. And if you went walking with him he was a mountain goat."

Ian McLaren, retired Nottingham QC and Recorder, said: "He was very kind to me when I started. I did not know anyone. I was living away from home. He was a very welcoming, friendly man, very sociable."

Born on June 23, 1935, John Raymond Hopkin was educated at King's School in Worcester, where he was captain of athletics and in the rugby and football first teams.

He left in the summer of 1953 and was called to the bar to practise law at Middle Temple in February 1958.

Twenty one years later, he was sworn in as a crown court judge by the Lord Chancellor.

He leaves a widow, Sue, a son and a daughter.

He had been president of the Magistrates' Association, chairman of governors at Nottingham High School for Girls, where his daughter Claire was a pupil, and Deputy Lieutenant of Notts.

Son Andrew said his father had wide interests, including gardening, theatre, hill walking, golf and watching his grandsons play rugby.

He was also respected for judging dogs, and used to show Samoyeds.

Andrew said: "Judges can be very austere, but he was a man who was much loved by many people outside the law as well as inside the law.

"I remember at his retirement somebody described him as a man who in equal measure was held in great affection and respect, and I think that's a very good way to describe him."