MOCAŠ
MB Enthusiast
Following on from the fare evader story, another story regarding a 19-year-old student that was in the news this week for your consideration.
A trial in Manchester was halted at the summing-up stage after a juror (the student) who'd been sitting all week called in sick, saying that he'd been up all night vomitting and was too ill to attend. When a court official later phoned to ask whether he might be well enough to attend over the weekend, his boyfriend took the call and unwittingly revealed that the juror had gone to London with his mother to see a musical. Whoops.
Police were sent to take a statement from the boyfriend, yet the juror later contacted the court and repeated the original lie, saying that he was recuperating at his mother's house. To put the tin hat on it, the show ticket had originally been a gift from the boyfriend and they were due to go together, but the boyfriend wasn't able to get time off work...
Naturally, when the judge became aware of the juror's actions, the latter was charged with contempt of court and handed a 14-day jail sentence, owing to the frivolous reason for his absence and the lies he had repeatedly told about it. As it happens, the juror has now been released after five days, so that he can spend Christmas with his family.
He seems to have learnt his lesson, and accepts that what he he did was wrong and that he should have been punished. So far, so good.
However, he does not believe that he should have been handed a custodial sentence. His mother is not taking things lying down. Having originally advised him not to even undertake the jury service (as though it were a matter of choice), she then felt that the judge should be happy with just an apology for her son's deceit. Now she's trying to find out from a solicitor what she can do to get his conviction overturned, claiming that her son has been made an example of and that he's too naive and sensitive to have been given a jail sentence - which she has described as 'ludicrous'. The boyfriend also thinks it's 'a disgrace' that his partner now has a criminal record.
I find this unbelievable - surely contempt of court is a very serious matter, not just because of the cost to public purse when a trial has to be halted, but also due to the fact that it is tantamount to perverting the course of justice and potentially causes distress to those involved in the trial. What sort of example is this mother setting by claiming he should have been let off with 'a slap on the wrist'?
Juror's mum: British justice stinks - my son thought he'd get slap on the wrist | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk
A trial in Manchester was halted at the summing-up stage after a juror (the student) who'd been sitting all week called in sick, saying that he'd been up all night vomitting and was too ill to attend. When a court official later phoned to ask whether he might be well enough to attend over the weekend, his boyfriend took the call and unwittingly revealed that the juror had gone to London with his mother to see a musical. Whoops.
Police were sent to take a statement from the boyfriend, yet the juror later contacted the court and repeated the original lie, saying that he was recuperating at his mother's house. To put the tin hat on it, the show ticket had originally been a gift from the boyfriend and they were due to go together, but the boyfriend wasn't able to get time off work...
Naturally, when the judge became aware of the juror's actions, the latter was charged with contempt of court and handed a 14-day jail sentence, owing to the frivolous reason for his absence and the lies he had repeatedly told about it. As it happens, the juror has now been released after five days, so that he can spend Christmas with his family.
He seems to have learnt his lesson, and accepts that what he he did was wrong and that he should have been punished. So far, so good.
However, he does not believe that he should have been handed a custodial sentence. His mother is not taking things lying down. Having originally advised him not to even undertake the jury service (as though it were a matter of choice), she then felt that the judge should be happy with just an apology for her son's deceit. Now she's trying to find out from a solicitor what she can do to get his conviction overturned, claiming that her son has been made an example of and that he's too naive and sensitive to have been given a jail sentence - which she has described as 'ludicrous'. The boyfriend also thinks it's 'a disgrace' that his partner now has a criminal record.
I find this unbelievable - surely contempt of court is a very serious matter, not just because of the cost to public purse when a trial has to be halted, but also due to the fact that it is tantamount to perverting the course of justice and potentially causes distress to those involved in the trial. What sort of example is this mother setting by claiming he should have been let off with 'a slap on the wrist'?
Juror's mum: British justice stinks - my son thought he'd get slap on the wrist | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk
