Old magistrate concerned with naughty woman in garden (5)
I believe the answer is:
reeve
'old magistrate' is the definition.
(historical type of magistrate or judge)
'concerned with naughty woman in garden' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'woman' could be 'ree' and 'ree' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for reeve that I've seen before include "Ancient magistrate" , "Scottish bailiff" , "Pass the end of a rope through the bailiff" , "Chief magistrate, formerly" , "Pass a rope through a ring" .)