 He was Deputy Chairman of Hertfordshire Quarter Sessions from 1961 to 1971, and in 1963 he became a Bencher of the Middle Temple.From 1965 to 1971 he was Recorder of King's Lynn, giving up the job when he became a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1972.Moderate in politics, Wells supported British membership of the European Economic Community in 1971 against a three line whip.