Lord Justice Richards, 56, a Court of Appeal judge, will not sit in the courts while police investigations continue into the alleged incident.

The judge, who is married with three children, also serves as chairman of the board of governors at King’s College School, Wimbledon, a leading independent school.

He was arrested by British Transport Police officers last Friday and was released on bail after being questioned.

A police spokesman said: “On Friday we arrested a 56-year-old man in connection with an investigation.

“He was released on police bail to return to Ebury Bridge police station on March 2. As this investigation is still on-going it would be inappropriate to give further details.”

The Judicial Communications Office confirmed that the judge had been detained.

“The judge will not be sitting while this matter is being investigated,” a spokesman said.

“A judge cannot be suspended, but there is a convention that they do not sit while a situation like this is ongoing. There is a police investigation, but he has been granted bail and he has not been charged with any offence.”

Sir Stephen Richards became a High Court judge in 1997 after a five-year stint as the “Treasury Devil”, one of the most demanding jobs in the legal world.

As first junior Treasury counsel for common law cases, he was essentially the first port of call for all the Government’s legal work in the civil courts.

Traditionally, the Treasury Devil does not become a Queen’s Counsel but is automatically appointed to the High Court bench.

He was knighted in the same year that he went to the High Court and in 2005 he became a Lord Justice of Appeal.

One of the last cases he ruled on before his arrest was an attempt by the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the electrician who was mistakenly shot dead by police at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, 2005, to take their arguments to the House of Lords.

Sitting with two other judges, Lord Justice Richards said that there were points of law raised by the de Menezes family, regarding the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to bring criminal charges against police, which could be considered by the law lords.

The written judgment was handed down by the apeal court on Friday after Lord Justice Richards, who lives in Wimbledon, southwest London, was arrested.

The judge spoke to reporters from the News of the World on Saturday and confirmed that he had been arrested. He said: “I spoke to police and gave them my full co-operation about an incident last October which I deny.

“I have not been charged and have been bailed in the usual manner.”

Lord Justice Richards was educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon, and St John’s College, Oxford, and has been married for more than 30 years.

He lists his recreations in Who’s Who as walking and relaxing in the Welsh hills.

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