TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to a respected barrister who has died of gastric cancer at the age of 42.

Judges, fellow barristers and solicitors attended a ceremony at Newcastle Crown Court to say their final farewells to Stanley Anderson, who died on Monday.

Mr Anderson, originally from South Shields, South Tyneside, was diagnosed with the disease in December 2002.

Despite health professionals warning he may only have months to live, he prolonged his life for more than a year through sheer determination, courage, and by following a strict dietary regime.

Euan Duff, a fellow barrister at Broad Chare Chambers, in Newcastle, said: "Stan Anderson was a very ordinary and utterly extraordinary man."

Mr Anderson started his career as a police officer, but left the force through injury.

He then went on to graduate from Newcastle University with a first-class honours degree in law and was called to the Bar in 1993.

He became a popular lawyer at the Quayside complex on the banks of the Tyne, and was liked and respected by his colleagues and friends.

Judge Maurice Carr, who led the ceremony, said: "He was a man with a deep conscience and as a barrister he was a practical advocate.

"He was a successful defence and prosecution advocate whose practise was still developing when he had to cease work."

Mr Anderson, a devoted family man, leaves a wife and two children aged ten and seven.