Peter Barton recalled: "Stuart's wicked sense of humour is evident from the subject matter of his cartoons.


"I recall an occasion that I witnessed this when, seated in his favourite south London pub, a mutual friend was updating us on the progress being made by his brother who was recovering in hospital after an operation on a particular delicate part of his anatomy.


"When Stuart enquired whether he was in any pain I could not resist chipping in with 'He's as uncomfortable as can be expected!' Stuart's reaction to this comment surprised me somewhat: he dissolved into a quivering heap of mirth, tears of laughter streaming down his face.


"I didn't actually think the remark was that funny but then I suppose that is what separates genius from the rest of us mortals. Stuart had probably conjured up a picture of the unfortunate fellow in his head and I would like to think that perhaps my feeble effort at wit inspired him to put charcoal to paper as soon as he got back home.


"Stuart would often sit and watch the world go by and on the occasions I visited his humble abode and had the privilege of viewing his cartoons it became apparent he was able to see a step further than the rest of us. He could take an everyday situation and twist it just enough to make it funny.


"The world is a poorer place without him."


Bob Saker remembers: SOHO DAYS: "around twenty-five years ago I found myself sitting at a table in a Soho cafe: a Cockney, Italian, family-run business, sadly, the kind rapidly disappearing from the Soho scene. I was in the company of some musicians, one of whom was Stuart Leathwood.


"A waitress approached our table carrying a plate of food.


"'Are you the Lasagne?' she enquired of me.


"'No' I replied.


"'Are you the Lasagne?' she then enquired of Stuart.


"'No,' he replied, then he added, in a serious tone, 'but some call me the Son of Man.'

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