District Court judge Helen Wilson SC has been appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of NSW, Attorney General Brad Hazzard announced today.

“Judge Wilson’s ascendancy to the Supreme Court is just reward for an exemplary 24-year legal career that has included practising as a Crown Prosecutor in serious criminal trials and serving as a District Court judge,” Mr Hazzard said.

Since joining the ranks of the judiciary in April, Judge Wilson has presided over District Court trials in Newcastle.

Judge Wilson worked at the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for more than two decades, and was a Crown Prosecutor for the majority of that period.

Working primarily in the Hunter and Illawarra regions, she successfully prosecuted murderers, drug traffickers and paedophiles.

In 2008, she appeared as Counsel for the Crown in the trial of disgraced former Labor MP Milton Orkopoulos, who was subsequently jailed for child sexual assault and drug offences.

After being appointed as a Senior Counsel in 2013, Judge Wilson worked predominantly on Court of Criminal Appeal matters until she became a judge.

Judge Wilson began her career at the Legal Aid Commission of NSW in 1990 after graduating from the University of Sydney with Bachelors of Laws and Arts.

Her contribution to the law extends well beyond NSW. She has introduced a prosecution policy to provide guidelines to legal staff in Vanuatu and has delivered papers on human rights to judges in China.