A 66-YEAR-OLD retired solicitor benefited from the assistance of a "MacMicro" friend during a virtual court hearing, a judge has said.

Rodger Mernagh was embroiled in a family court dispute with his estranged partner, Gerlie Padero-Mernagh, a nurse.

Mr Justice Williams had been due to start overseeing a trial at a family court hearing in Leeds on March 30.

But he staged the trial via Skype instead because of the coronavirus crisis.

The judge has explained, in a written ruling published online, how the virtual hearing proceeded with few hitches.

"All involved abided in the main by the ground rules," he said.

"(Mr Mernagh's) need for occasional assistance with the technology demonstrated the benefit of having a 'MacMicro' friend in easy reach."

Mr Justice Williams added: "I think both the wife and husband were satisfied that the remote hearing had allowed them to put their cases and give their evidence in a fair way."

Ms Padero-Mernagh, 47, who said she and Mr Mernagh married 15 years ago in the Philippines, where she was born, had filed for divorce and wanted a share of their marital assets.

Mr Mernagh objected.

He said their marriage was bigamous and invalid because Ms Padero-Mernagh was married to another man at the time of the wedding ceremony.

Mr Mernagh said there could therefore be no divorce.

He said the marriage should instead be nullified.

The judge ruled in his favour and issued a decree of nullity.