COUNTY Durham has 19 new magistrates to dispense justice.

They will join established colleagues sitting at courts throughout the county after officially being sworn in.

The recruits took the Judicial Oath and the Oath of Allegiance at Durham Crown Court before Judge Richard Lowden, the honorary judicial recorder of Durham, and Sir Paul Nicholson, chairman of the Durham Advisory Committee for the county's Justices of the Peace.

They are: Stephen Butterworth, of Redworth, Gareth Cordey, of Cleasby, North Yorkshire, Lynsey Dovey, of Gilesgate, Durham, Terence Finn, of Newton Hall, Durham, Brian Harrison, of Bishop Auckland, Ian Jamieson, of Burnhope, Satvinder Kaur, of Sunderland, Elizabeth Lee, of Newton Hall, Durham, Linda Marshall, of Craghead, Stanley, Cecilia Morton of Darlington, Ian Neal, of Brandon, Dr Sarah Pearce, of Durham, Milcah Rusk, of Darlington, Alan Stobbs, of Stanley, Paul Turner, of Middleton One Row, near Darlington, Mark Wells, of Chester-le-Street, Samantha Whitehead, of Bar-nard Castle, Michael Williams, of Middleton St George, near Darlington, and Dr Janet Woodward, of Moorside, Consett.