Has anyone of you been called to sit on Jury Service? I would like to but haven't been selected as of yet. For anyone that has, was the case interesting? How long did it go on for? Did you reach a unaminous decision? Did you feel it was the right decision?

Can't say much about the cases but I was there for the whole 2 weeks. We had a guilty, a not guilty and a p**s off, we've changed our mind. I think the last one the plea was changed when they saw our ugly mugs.

There's a lot of sitting around so take a book. The cases themselves were interesting but I felt a bit emotionally drained after one of them. I was the foreman and had to say the bit about guilty or not guilty and had trouble getting the words out.

I can't say whether we were right or wrong but you reach agreement in the jury room and so the responsiblity is shared and you feel that the decision is right given the facts that you are told.

Don't hold your breath waiting to be called for jury service. I know of only a handful of people who have done it.

The closest I've come to it was a school trip a few years ago to watch a couple of cases.. It didn't really interest me that much to be honest until we were asked to act out a case and I was the prosicution..

I enjoyed making up all kinds of lies to try and get the person sent down.. :lol:

Originally posted by Neo
The closest I've come to it was a school trip a few years ago to watch a couple of cases.. It didn't really interest me that much to be honest until we were asked to act out a case and I was the prosicution..

I enjoyed making up all kinds of lies to try and get the person sent down.. :lol:

I have viewed a few cases in my time as well. In some of the cases the judges are so dry and really harsh to the barristers.

I have never been called up for jury service but my wife has twice.
She was dertermined not to go and her bad back started to pkay up. Don't know how long she can hold it off but a sick note did the trick.
Other than that get a criminal record.

I always wanted to sit on a jury and indeed was sent a letter warning me to be ready but the call never came and now I suppose it is the story of my life. ( TOO LATE .)

LOL, poor old Hal, not even worthy of sitting in the most boring room in the world next to a doctors surgery to see a bunch of criminals go to prison.:(

:rant: just like to moan (again) about having been chosen for jury service, a service which you have to do by law or face a fine of £1000.
the allowances state that no one should be out of pocket, how then are you supposed to sustain yourself on £4.73p per day when the coffe/tea is £0.90p per cup (three breaks per day) leaves you with £2.03p to spend on food, the cheapest meal is nearly a fiver, if thats not out of pocket ,what is?
bet the judge is'nt spending that large amount of money!! :rant:

Originally posted by fridgeman
:rant: just like to moan (again) about having been chosen for jury service, a service which you have to do by law or face a fine of £1000.
the allowances state that no one should be out of pocket, how then are you supposed to sustain yourself on £4.73p per day when the coffe/tea is £0.90p per cup (three breaks per day) leaves you with £2.03p to spend on food, the cheapest meal is nearly a fiver, if thats not out of pocket ,what is?
bet the judge is'nt spending that large amount of money!! :rant:

That's a bit harsh. Do they pay your wages and compensate your employer for the time you miss from work?

Do they pay your transport to and from?

I was called up for Jury Service a few years back now... Whilst living down South

Unfortunately i was only there for a couple of days as the case wasnt at all interesting... none of us really agreed with the verdict but it was lack of evidence that swung it for the person in question... it was all over and done with in a day an a half... then was called back the following day should i be needed for another case... Which i wasnt so i left... my services were no longer required...

I also sat in on a few cases whilst on YTS...
hmmm... something unheard of these days 'Youth Training Scheme'

Someone i know (down South) is now a 4 week case... Should be interesting... I have enquired... but was told nothing (rightly so!) sulk! sulk! lol

Never called for Jury Duty but many moons ago was called as an expert witness in a court case involving computers. This was ...oh...maybe early 1990s?

Went to Liverpool, hung around, got bored, was then told the case had been dismissed.

Got a good day's pay for doing bugger all, but felt that it was all a waste of the taxpayer's money to wait until the trial and get us all there before saying 'Nope, can't do it'.

Joe

Yes I did jury service.

I was the first name drawn for a rape case.
crown court too, and I think a High Court Judge.
The judge was Lord Justice ******* and he wrote everything down in longhand, so evryone had to speak slowly. We were there on that case for 5 full days, working until about 5 15pm and the court was very cold. The man from "The Star" fell asleep and fell off his chair. The man in the dock did not know the correct terms for his private parts so the barrister translated them for us.!!
We were out for over 5 hrs, and kept going back to the judge cos we could only get 9-3, he said he would accept 10-2, so back we went. Eventually we reached 10-2 and found him guilty.

hazel

Originally posted by ptigga
That's a bit harsh. Do they pay your wages and compensate your employer for the time you miss from work?

Do they pay your transport to and from?

There is no compensation for your employer, you receive payment to compensate you. There's a form to fill in which you take to your emeployer who will deduct that amount from your salary. That's if you've a decent employer otherwise they'll just dock your whole salary for that period.

However, the compensation is limited and if you're on anything more than about £10k p.a. and your employer is a ******* you're likely to be out of pocket.

Yes, they do pay travel.

MOD: Hazel, I removed the name of the judge as it's not really appropriate to name people on here.

Max
Sorry about naming names, didn't realise it was wrong.
Hazel

i was called up last year, although I lost the letter! At the time I was a student so I couldn't attend anyway, but I have been told they have changed the rules now, so being a student isn't an excuse!

Originally posted by qazitory
i was called up last year, although I lost the letter! At the time I was a student so I couldn't attend anyway, but I have been told they have changed the rules now, so being a student isn't an excuse!

Hmmm. I did jury service as a student in 1988. Wasn't I supposed to????

Originally posted by qazitory
i was called up last year, although I lost the letter! At the time I was a student so I couldn't attend anyway, but I have been told they have changed the rules now, so being a student isn't an excuse!

You would think that they would know that you were a student?

I didnt realise there were any rules... i thought that if you received a letter that was it no excuses... attend or else :lol:

just so Hazel and everyone else is aware you are absolutely forbidden to repeat what happens during Jury deliberations and it is an offence to contravene this.

Snook

I wasn't aware that I said anything more than was reported in "The Sheffield Star" that evening. Or that the people in the public gallery woul know.

Hazel

the court may (i said may) pay up to the maximum allowance which is: £27.60 per day for the first 10 days then £55.19 on the 11th and all subsequent days
that means i'm out of pocket by £57.40 per day for the first 10 days then £29.81 for the remainder.
still do'nt know where i can buy a decent meal for£2.05p.
as for serving the normal expectation is that everyone summoned for service will serve at the time for which they are summoned, however there may be occasions where it is not reasonable ie family bereavement you still have to apply to the summoning bureau and ask to be excused or defered to a later date.
this is anyone students,teachers,doctors road sweepers anyone from 18 to 70 only people exempt are the mentally insane ,criminals

:P ptigga yes they do compensate you for travel they pay the cost of the bus ticket and 2nd class (thought britain was a class free society according to that p*** blair) return fare if travelling by train,if you are fit and travell by bike they give you 6.3p per mile :o by motorbike its 26.5p per mile but if the court accepts that the motorcycle usage is due to no alternative public transport being available travell by car (which they dont like,but the judge can ride around in his big limmo!!!) 40.2p per mile again same applies as the motorbike.
why is it the worker always gets penalised,they should pick on the unemployed and pensioners under 70, bloody bureaucrats :mad:

i was called up last year, although I lost the letter! At the time I was a student so I couldn't attend anyway
I was called up in the middle of my election campaign! So, I used the old Represention Of The People excuse and they postponed it by six months.
It was really interesting and I'd love to do it again.

--
JGH

I did a magistrates court mock trial thing in 2001.

Was quite fun, I was one of the lawyers :D

The new courthouse in Sheffield hit the news when it had only been open a short while, because the Jury Box was inaccessible to a woman juror who was a wheelchair-user.

She had to sit seperately from the rest of the jury, in the body of the court.

It hit the headlines in the Shefield Star at the time.

I wonder, has the situation changed?

It "may" have for jurors, although I doubt it :- it certainly hasn't for witnesses....

I had to attend, to give evidence, in a case there, only a few months ago, and I could not access the witness box; I had to give my evidence from the body of the court. It was not a pleasant experience, at all, as the courtroom layout meant that I was placed uncomfortably near the defendant, and I felt extremely vulnerable.

PT

I got called for jury service,i was due to attend when i was away on holiday:mad: ,anyway wrote to them and they agreed to rearange it,the new date coincided with a really important change at work, so my md wrote to them,they rearanged the date again,then i had a phone call at work asking me not to bother turning up at court at 9 am on monday as per my letter, because the case isn't due to commence until 1 pm, i said to the clerk "i havn't recieved any such letter confirming a new date"she said oh i see,i will get back to you, never heard anymore about it.
I have no idea as why they were so lenient with me (changing dates ect) because i was led to believe if you was called,providing you met the criteria required,you HAD to attend.
To be honest i never wanted to do it in the first place.(cue letter in mondays post marked jury service:rolleyes: )

I was on the jury for a child murder case - hope I never get called again - couldn't sleep properly for weeks afterwards...

I was on the jury for a child murder case - hope I never get called again - couldn't sleep properly for weeks afterwards...
In cases like that the judge will often instruct the court to exempt the jury members from being called up in future. It would be worth you giving the court a call to see if you've been exempted.

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JGH

Did Jury service in September this year, I so looked forward to it.

It ended up with their not being enough Judges for the cases and it was so boaring sat there until 3pm to be told go home ring up after 5.30 to see if you are needed tomorrow.

Originally posted by fridgeman
as for serving the normal expectation is that everyone summoned for service will serve at the time for which they are summoned, however there may be occasions where it is not reasonable ie family bereavement you still have to apply to the summoning bureau and ask to be excused or defered to a later date.
this is anyone students,teachers,doctors road sweepers anyone from 18 to 70 only people exempt are the mentally insane ,criminals

There used to be an exemption if you were self-employed and had no-one to run your business for you. Don't know if this is still the case?

Originally posted by Damon
Hmmm. I did jury service as a student in 1988. Wasn't I supposed to????

Sorry for the late reply!

I had exams in the same week as the jury service, so I was exempt. I don't think you get out of it just for being a student. I think you have to have a reason why.

I did jury service quite a few years back. It was an armed robbery with violence and there were shotguns involved. For obvious reasons I can't give anymore details than that. I can say however that it was very interesting and quite difficult because part of the gang had allready handed themselves in, but we didn't know that at the time of course. The correct verdict was reached eventually, after hours of deliberation.........and these people went away for many years between them.
We were all offered exemption afterwards........but I declined! lol. Wish I hadn't now because I am not sure that I would wish to do it again now that I am "older". The younger mind was a lot more alert and able to retain and process the vast amount of information that was offered at that time. I am not sure that it would be the same now!
I really enjoyed the responsability of the job though, and am glad I had the opportunity. This case went on for three weeks and from what I remember I wasn't "out of pocket" and they even covered child care costs. We were personally thanked by the Judge at the end of it all.
I still have all the newspaper cuttings somewhere........I think.

My Dad was called for Jury service last year but because he was over 65 (though still under 70) he got out of it, which was probably a good job because he is as deaf as a post and would have missed most of the evidence.

hi, i did my jury service at derby crown court a right treck down there,i was only 21 at the time enjoyed it though,some of the things people do a real eye opener,id do it again if asked,did the full 2 weeks

I sat on a jury almost 5 years ago and it was one of the most emotionally draining experiences of my life. I sat on two cases. One was a complete joke cos you just KNEW the person or people in question were guilty as hell but the prosecution were hopeless. My other half sat in and observed and after the case was over he told me that he had overheard the coppers talking about the defendants and how they had hoped that this would have been the time they were brought to justice. Apparantly, they had been in and out of court so many times but the evidence against them was insufficient on each occasion. That is how it goes though, so I don't have a problem with that.
The second case was much more involved and after much deliberation we returned with a guilty verdict. I have never felt so guilty myself!! The responsibility for this other person's immediate future is overwhelming, and I broke down in tears at the end of the trial. This person is now out of prison (I am pleased to hear) and I hope he is making a new life for himself. Some people do make one terrible mistake in their lives.
The thing I found most disturbing about the whole experience was not the trial itself but the jurors on the case. I really have no faith in the jury system. Some of the jurors should have still been in school judging by what they demonstrated of the education they had received. Some were clueless as to their role. Some were just far too young to understand the responsibility. I heard so many comments like 'I fancy him, so no way is he guilty', and 'guilty or not, he has come to trial so let's send him down', and 'what did he do, again?' Some couldn't even string a sentence together. Some just couldn't be arsed to try. In the end it seemed to be about 5 of us that were discussing it in great depth. Heaven knows how the others reached their verdicts. We tried so hard to get some input but our attempts were just futile. I ended up having a row with a fellow juror at the end cos he made some very appropriate comment across the court to the defendant..who was, by all accounts, going through hell.
I was shocked and appalled and feel that a revision of this system is long overdue. I personally feel (and I am really opening myself up to attack here) that the people who would be most qualified to undertake such a duty, are the ones who can always find reasons for exemption.
If you are called for jury service my top tip is this: your first opinions may not always be true. When you come to reread the notes that you have taken during the trial, you will probably find that you feel the exact opposite as you thought you did whilst in the court. Be prepared to change your minds!

my mum did jury service a few years ago she said it was very boring indeed plus the exspenses a member of a jury gets it quite laughable

i no when the trial was on she rang me every night trying to tell me stuff about the case kept telling her i didnt want to no then when it was time to decide the fate of the accused she said she couldnt decide if to go guilty or not guilty , i just told her to toss a coin:)

always wanted to do jury service but as i have a police record (and no its not regatta de blanc ) there is no chance i will be able to judge my peers

I was called up for jury service in London after returning a call letter for someone who no longer lived in the apartment block where I lived so I guess I dropped myself in it, but anyway...

I totally agree with you Babooshka, it was emotionally draining and I cried a bunch too, even tho' the were soooo guilty. Me and this other lady were gripping each other's hands when they delivered the verdict.

The crime was the murder using a knife of a priest in a crack den run by a prostitute. There was the perp and an accessory and they we both in the dock.

The main witness was a hooker who had been on the game since she was 14 and who met the one who was the accessory when he raped her. Nice. They thought the priest was an informant when in fact, so it was claimed, he was trying to convert them all to Christianity. He wasn't there to defend himself so I can't say what I thought he was up to.

I have never witnessed (if that's the right word) such a lack of respect for the system - one of the suppsed witnesses, street named James Bond, more like James Brown, said Yeah man to the Judge when spoken to, slumped on the witness stand and said "might have" when questioned about his statement. None of the witnesses had any kind of respectful structure to their lives, it was get up late (like noon), turn a few tricks to get ££, or clip a client, get bombed on crack etc all day and night and start all over again. No intention of ever working to get out of the cycle, it was a real eye-opener I can tell you, and it made me really thankful for my Silverdale/Millhouses education and life for the first time ever.

The main defendant lied soooo badly about how it had happened but he would have had to have been a professional knife juggler to carry out the manoeuvre he claimed actually got the chap in the chest. They all had street names like Smiler and Mandred etc, and it was very confusing when trying to get our heads round all the difference characters. The photos of the flat/crack den were just vile. Squalid doesn't even come close.

The counsel for the defense was a complete p***k, for want of a more vulgar word, and we all hated him, the pompous git. We upset him at one stage by seeing straight through what he was trying to do and scoffing but no consequences were brought.

So, anyways we finally found them guilty by unanimous verdict and the police were dancing in the aisles, elated that this pair had finally been nailed. They took us for a drink afterwards (v. unorthodox) and told us all the other stuff they had done prior to the case. One night, they took a minicab ride with no intention of paying, and in fact robbed to driver, and when he protested at their doing a runner, the accesory chap just lifted up a machete and sliced off the taxi driver's thumb. Nice bloke!

I was paid exactly the amount I would have been paid at work (private company not public sector) and as I would have had to pay for food everyday anyway, was not out of pocket. The people on the jury were a really mixed bunch and we did have a real laugh and hooked up a few times afterwards to talk about it. Now that we could.

In a weird way I enjoyed it, I am sure I would not have been able to handle a rape case, and you can request not to sit on such a case if you are likely to find it traumatic. Now that I have been a jury member on a murder I can legitimatley refuse to participate again if called. I have had nightmares about it since and I will never forget it.

I did jury service a few years ago,I was reluctant ,and tried to get out of doing it because I was reccuperating from treatment I had received at the hospital,I got called at a later date, so had to do it, I found it interesting, and quite enjoyed it. Having said that,it was nothing to do with murder or rape, and no children involved, so I suppose it depends on what kind of case you are on, how you view your experience.

I have just been called up.

Thats all I am saying tho.

Originally posted by venger
Thats all I am saying tho.

Hope it's not my trial you're doing :help: :help:

I did Jury Service about 6 years ago or so.

The main case I did was a case of rape and sexual assault.

You really do get to see how the underbelly of our society operates and aside from the grisly details it was quite intriguing. I really don't know if we came to the right verdict (it was not guilty) and I had very little sympathy for either the accused or the accuser.

But I was pleasantly surprised at how most people on the jury took it very seriously and were really genuinely interested in doing what was right and not jumping to conclusions based on prejudice.

I did 3 weeks a few years ago. One case was that of a 'joyrider' who all jury members felt was guilty, but against whom the prosection evidence was very weak. It was really frustrating to have to find him not guilty purely because the scenes of crime evidence which would have proven his guilt wasn't gathered at the time. We were left with accusations that the prosecution couldn't back up, and so found that there was reasonable doubt and acquitted, only to find his name on the following two weeks' court sheets in relaton to a further 65 counts of car related offences. We all left disillusioned and feeling very much that the whole trial was a charade which cost taxpayers and achieved nothing.

I hope that others have more positive experiences of playing a part in the justice system.

BTW a good book is a must, and so is a flask- the cost of drinks really mounts up.