Judge apologises after she 'momentarily' fell asleep during High Court hearing

A High Court judge has “expressed remorse” after she "momentarily" fell asleep during a hearing.

Mrs Justice Parker, who is based in the Family Division in the High Court in London “momentarily” dozed off and was the subject of a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.

A JCIO spokesman said the 68-year-old had been given "formal advice" as her conduct had the potential to undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

It was outlined in a statement published on the JCIO website.

"While concluding that this amounted to conduct which had the potential to undermine public confidence in the judiciary, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice took into consideration that the judge fell asleep only momentarily and has expressed remorse for doing so," the statement said.

No details on when the hearing took place were released.

Additional reporting by PA.