A NEW sheriff is on the bench in Greenock after officially starting this week.

Friends, family and colleagues gathered at the town’s court on Nelson Street for the instalment of Sheriff Ian Fleming.

He described it as ‘a day of great importance to me and to my family’.

Sheriff Fleming will replace Sheriff Rajni Swanney, who retired earlier this month.

He said: “I feel truly privileged to be installed here at Greenock.” The married dad-of-one has many strings to his bow — he holds an SFA coaching certificate in goalkeeping and is also involved in youth football in the Glasgow area.

He was appointed as a member of the Judicial Panel of the Scottish Football Association in 2011 and the Convenor of Mental Health Tribunals in 2010.

The ceremony was presided over by Bruce Kerr QC, Sheriff Principal of North Strathclyde, who was joined on the bench by Guy Clark, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, and current sheriffs Tom Ward and Derek Hamilton.

Sheriff Kerr administered the oaths to formally install Sheriff Fleming to North Strathclyde.

He told the court he had first come across Sheriff Fleming while a sheriff in Glasgow and said the then-solicitor was ‘someone who made you think while on the bench’, adding that ‘not all practitioners have this skill’.

Sheriff Fleming was born in London but brought up and educated in Scotland.

He graduated with a law degree from the University of Strathclyde in 1983 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1985.

He first worked as a trainee solicitor, assistant and partner with Paton and Co, before becoming a partner with Fleming and Reid in 1990.

He became a solicitor advocate in 2001 and was appointed as a part-time sheriff in 2005.

Procurator fiscal for Greenock Fiona Holligan says she hopes that his time here will be ‘rewarding, challenging and enjoyable’.

She said she knew the sheriff as a man of ‘fairness and sound judgement’ who would deal with those who appear before him with ‘courtesy and respect’.

Sheriff Principal Bruce Kerr retires from his post on 30 September and Sheriff Ruth Anderson is due to retire on 30 September.

Sheriff Fleming was among six recent appointments announced by the Scottish Government.