The lawyer who prosecuted the singer Boy George in a false imprisonment trial is to be Canterbury’s newest judge.

Heather Norton QC, who made her name in a number of high-profile serious crime cases, will be the city’s second female judge – serving alongside resident Judge Adele Williams.

The lawyer’s ‘bible’- Chambers UK – describes her as " a class act", "diligent and conscientious" and she also won praise "for her determination with clear and user-friendly advice even in the messiest of cases".

Among the cases she has prosecuted was a gynaecologist who botched surgery on five patients after claiming he could use laser surgery to "revolutionise" their sex lives.

And in November 2008, she prosecuted George O’Dowd – better known as Culture Club’s flamboyant Boy George – when he was found guilty of false imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court and jailed for 15 months.

O’Dowd and a friend kept their victim Audun Carlsen tied up as a prisoner at his home in Shoreditch in April 2007.

During the trial she made a joke at the singer’s expense, asking: "Did he really have to hurt him?" – a reference to his 1980 hit: "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?".

The Ministry of Justice made the announcement a few days ago, saying: "The Queen has appointed Heather Sophia Norton to be a Circuit Judge on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke."

Judge Norton – who was called to the Bar in 1988 – has recently sat at Canterbury Crown Court as a Recorder. She begins her first day as a judge on Friday April 20.