A 102-year-old judo instructor has become the oldest person recognised in the King's New Year's Honours list.
John "Jack" Hearn, from Cramlington in Northumberland, is receiving a British Empire Medal for his dedication to the sport and community work in the North East. He is among a small group of centenarians being honoured this year.
It is also a brilliant recognition for a man who also served during the Second World War and has been practising martial arts for more than seven decades. Two years ago, he secured a spot in the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest judo instructor.
Mr Hearn first discovered judo back in 1951 after doctors told him to give up cycling following an appendix operation. He took to the martial art "like a duck to water" and founded a club with his brother Bob just three years later.
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Speaking in 2023, he said: "If any clubs want me to go there to give lectures or examinations, that's what I do now." The veteran admitted he leaves "the more physical side to the younger ones these days" due to minor leg problems.
There is quite an age gap between Mr Hearn and this year's youngest recipient: 20-year-old Olympic climbing gold medallist Toby Roberts, who has been made an MBE. Meanwhile, Betty Brown, believed to be the oldest victim of the Post Office scandal, has been awarded an OBE.
The 92-year-old from County Durham ran the Annfield Plain Post Office near Stanley, County Durham, alongside her late husband Oswall, from 1985 to 2003. The couple lost around £100,000 of their own money covering shortfalls that did not exist.
After years of waiting, she finally received her compensation settlement last month. Learning of her honour, Brown's thoughts turned to fellow victims, including those who tragically took their own lives..
John "Jack" Hearn has been named the oldest recipient in King's New Year's Honours list, aged 102
|BBC
She said: "I will wear it in honour of them, I'm very, very honoured, but it's for the sub-postmasters ... what this really stands for is important."
Another centenarian receiving a BEM is D-Day veteran Mervyn Kersh, 101, honoured for his school talks on Holocaust remembrance and his service during the war. The north London resident arrived in Normandy just three days after the invasion began in June 1944, working as a technical clerk for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
While Mr Kersh believes his wartime service "was worth it," he expressed concern about modern Britain. "What's disappointing is the anti-Semitism that I see everywhere, hear everywhere, or read," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain, warning that the country risks repeating pre-war mistakes.
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