Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
During a discussion about jury trials, one of my colleagues claimed
that there was a recent trial in which two members of the jury were jailed by the judge.
He could not remember the details and the rest of us were not convinced. Is there any
truth in what he’s saying?
Answer :-
I can confirm that he is absolutely right. The situation arose in 1997
and involved the trial of five defendants on counterfeit currency offences.
The trial collapsed when two women jurors sent the judge a note saying that their personal
beliefs did not allow them to judge anyone. Even more bizarrely, one of the women had
allowed herself to be elected foreman of the jury.
The judge sent them to prison for contempt of court and they spent 24 hours behind bars.
He was criticised in some quarters but . . taking into account the considerable cost
of the retrial which became necessary and the additional stress inflicted on the
defendants . . . there were many people who felt that they had little cause for complaint.
It was a fairly unusual event!
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