Tributes have been paid to a "brilliant" Welsh barrister who has died at the age of 61.
Christopher Clee QC was a familiar face in crown courts around south Wales for almost 40 years, and was counsel in some of the most high-profile cases of recent decades including the prosecution of Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins for child sex offences. Mr Clee also sat as a recorder or part-time circuit judge.
Away from the courtroom the barrister loved the American punk rock band The Ramones, and was a committed cricket, football and rugby fan.
Until his retirement last year Mr Clee was head of Angel Chambers in Swansea. His successor, Rhys Jones, paid tribute to his former colleague as a "brilliant lawyer" who was respected throughout the legal profession in Wales. He said: "Chris Clee was unique. He was a brilliant lawyer and a formidable advocate. He was immensely respected by everyone on the Wales Circuit. He was also a true friend to so many of us. He will be terribly missed. Chambers and the profession as a whole will be the poorer without him."
Those sentiments were echoed by judge Paul Thomas QC, the resident judge at Swansea Crown Court. He said: "Chris Clee was an outstanding lawyer, both as a highly effective advocate and as a much respected Recorder sitting regularly in the Crown Courts of Wales. But far more importantly, he was an extremely nice man who will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him."
After studying at Cardiff University Mr Clee was called to the Bar as a barrister in 1983, and practised at Angel Chambers throughout his career. He became a recorder of the crown court - a part-time circuit judge - in 2005, and was appointed Queen's Counsel or QC in 2009. He became head of chambers in 2015, and continued in that role until his retirement last summer.
Respected for his advocacy skills in the courtroom, Mr Clee was trial counsel in many of the most high-profile cases which came before the Welsh courts in recent times. He prosecuted in the murder trial of David Ellis, the man who beat his Swansea landlord Alec Warburton to death with a hammer and dumped his body in a quarry before fleeing to Ireland, as well as prosecuting martial arts experts and self-styled hardman Colin Payne who murdered charity worker Mark Bloomfield outside a Swansea pub, and brothers Edward and Stephen Bennett who murdered drug dealer Mark Jones in an execution-style killing in a layby on the A4059 in Mountain Ash.
He was also involved in the trials of Jonathan Donne, the man who murdered pensioner John Williams in his Swansea home in a drugs robbery and Paul Grabham - the man who murdered his wife Kirsty and dumped her body in a suitcase beneath the M4 - as well as acting as defence counsel in the trial of Geoffrey Bran, the man who was cleared of murdering his wife Mavis by throwing scalding hot oil over her at the chip shop they ran together in the village of Hermon in Carmarthenshire.
Mr Clee also prosecuted Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins for sexually abusing children, a case which saw the disgraced musician sentenced to 29 years in prison, and prosecuted Robert Owens, the son who murdered his elderly mother Iris with a chainsaw at their home in Ystrad Mynach.
Away from the courtroom and the robing room the father-of-four was a dedicated cricket, rugby and football fan, and loved the music of American punk rock band The Ramones. A private family funeral for Mr Clee will take place on August 19, and then a service of thanksgiving will be held at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall on September 2 at 2pm.
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