A prosecutor has been appointed as a magistrate and will take up the role next week.

Maria Sofianos was selected after "an open and competitive recruitment process“, a spokesman for Government House said.

Rena Lalgie, the Governor, added: “I am very pleased to announce Ms Sofianos’s appointment as magistrate following consultation with the Chief Justice and the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Services Committee.

“Ms Sofianos is highly qualified to take on the challenges of this role, not only from her experience as an acting magistrate but also from her wider legal experience as a Crown counsel.

“I wish Ms Sofianos well in her new position.”

Ms Sofianos attended Port Royal Primary School and Warwick Academy.

She was Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2006, and to the Bermuda Bar in 2007.

After completing a pupillage with Legal Aid and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Ms Sofianos started with the Department of Public Prosecutions in 2007 as Crown counsel, junior grade.

She was made Crown counsel in 2012.

Ms Sofianos has served as an acting magistrate since 2016 on an ad-hoc basis and will take up her new post on November 1.