Jury Service tomorrow

I did it when my children were young so not necessarily all oldies Lazigirl. In fact I was excused the first time I was called because my youngest was only a few months old- so I was 37. When I did it I was allowed to claim childcare costs for the time they were looked after after school, so they were probably 6, 9 and 12.

Lazigirl there were lots of young working people there in fact I thought there was a very good representative mix of age and race it was very well balanced I thought..

I'm with you on that Daddima after my jury service experience. When you consider it how representative a cross section of society is a jury? There are so many people excused for work or social reasons that there are only oldies, who have nothing better to do ha ha, or a few others left.

I've been called three times and served twice. I, too, was amazed at the attitude of many jurors. Some were , " the police are all liars", and others were, " he must have done it or he wouldn't be here."
Add to that a couple of forceful personalities, and jurors desperate to get home, and I just sincerely hope I'm never tried by a jury!

Somebody once said to me to look at the next 12 (15 in Scotland) people you speak to, and imagine your fate in their hands. I did, and it was scary.

We were given food & drink. We were allowed out for a cigarette but had to be accompanied by a clerk. I suffer with ibs and on the second day I had to get an adjournment because I had an attack! Very embarrassing to find all jurors had to leave the courtroom behind me & were in room whilst I was in the loo next door!

I was excited to picked for jury service 3 yrs ago. I am interested in true crime etc & was selected for a murder trial. It was the worst 6 weeks of my life! There are images I cannot unsee. Some of the medical evidence (that went on for over a week ) was baffling if you are not medically trained! I know I nodded off once as did other jurors (I am in my 40's) and when we came to the end & we found him guilty I sobbed! Gruelling and arduous & I'm very happy to be excused for 10 years!

I've been called twice, about thirty years apart. The first time I was sitting on three cases and the second time, one.
There is much waiting around, as been said but it was interesting to meet a cross section of other jurors, most of whom I would not have met in normal daily circumstances. I do remember one chap, a lorry driver who was illiterate, yet he was called for service as it was his common sense that was valued and not his reading ability. Reasonable in the case we were trying, as there was no paperwork involved but it could have been problematic in something such as a fraud trial with a paper-trail.
I also remember our jury gaily ordering sandwiches from the deliberating room and when they arrived, being charged for them. We erroneously assumed that as we were locked in, they would be a freebie! A silly point but obviously still on my mind!!
I was also summoned for a very long very scary bank robber trial. The defendants stood in the dock and their eyes bored right through us, the prospective jurors. Thankfully, I asked the judge to release me from standing for this case as I had young children (we had been told it would be a long one) and he agreed. Phew! This was in the days of jury vetting, which I don't think happens now.
I did find one has to be sure in one's own mind as other jury members will try and sway your perceptions and everything can become grey and not black and white, very easily. Clever barristers are a sight to behold but I don't know how some of them sleep at night.
I was voted foreperson on one trial and that was a bit scary as I worried about blurting out the wrong verdict at the wrong time, although it was OK in the end.
Oh yes, one other thing: our jury couldn’t agree on a verdict on one trial and the judge was absolutely furious with us. He discharged us, almost foaming at the mouth, and arranged another trial for the two defendants. It then came to light that we were the second jury unable to agree a verdict but the defendants still had to endure a third (this was many many years ago when attitudes to 'goings on' in bushes at night by men, were very different!)…...

I've been called 3 times, and served twice. The 3rd time I was excused due to work commitments, I'd served 2 years earlier and the small voluntary agency I worked for were going to struggle as my manager was due to be on leave at the same time.

Both occasions were interesting but sad too, especially the young teenage boy accused of a sexual assault who had no one with him in court. The evidence was very contradictory and we couldn't agree on a verdict - even if he was guilty I still felt sad for him as it seemed he had no one who cared enough about him to be there, maybe that's why he'd lost his way in life.

I've done it twice. First time I sat on an inquest jury which was very interesting.
There was only one conclusion we could reach. It was obvious to us all that it was an accident.
The second time was a child abuse case which was less pleasant and the jurors were divided. The judge accepted a majority verdict and it was only when I saw the face of the accused when the verdict (guilty) was read out that I was absolutely certain we had got it right.

Agree with others, long boring periods of waiting, stupid and prejudiced jurors.
I did three minor cases then a horrible rape case with three men accused of raping a girl the age of my daughter (this was 20 years ago) Not guilty verdicts and the girl's family threatened us with violence so we needed police protection.
It was an insight on the justice system and on the lives of people living in chaotic lawless conditions.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information I have been today and had a totally boring day. Not picked for a jury and would you believe the court canteen was closed so not only could we not get food, also no tea/coffee either and until we complained not even any access to water. We had to go out to the local cafe/shops to buy food or drinks.
So those of us not picked today were let go at 3:30 and we aren't needed tomorrow but have to ring to check late tomorrow about Wednesday. No one could give us an answer as the whether the canteen would reopen they just said we aren't sure... a bit of a shambles really as if we had been told about the food situation we could of been sure to take something with us..
Aside from all that everyone was very chatty to relieve the boredom , I shall be taking packed lunch and water from now on...

I did jury service for the second time in January and was allowed my kindle phone etc at all times ( but phone had to be off in court, and definitely off not silent) except when we went to deliberation, when all devices capable of outside contact were collected and locked away.

It is interesting, and also very boring. Even when you actually get selected for a jury an awful lot of time can be spent being sent out of the courtroom while legal aspects are argued. I was foreman for one trial and that has added responsibilities. On another just myself and one other man voted guilty. When we gave our reasons, including analysis of the evidence, the rest slowly came round and a unanimous guilty verdict was reached, so two angry men It came out that he had a string of similar convictions already was was definitely looking at a custodial sentence. I did not feel guilty in any way at all.

You are allowed to take laptop/Kindle/phone/iPad etc., but they will be locked away except for the time you're in the waiting room. You can't take them into the court or the jury deliberation room.

I have been called for jury service in May. I hope to God it doesn't go on longer than 2 weeks because I do one day a week daycare for baby granddaughter and it's not easy for my daughter to arrange alternative care.

Thanks for the tips about taking a book - I will also take a book of codewords! Are you allowed to take a Kindle?

I was called many years ago while on leave from the Middle East, but since I had a 3 month old who was breastfed, plus a 3 year old, and my husband was still at work in the Gulf, I was excused.

You don't surprise me, grannyactivist. My only experience as a juror was years ago, I was in my twenties, and two things have stayed with me. One - that some of the jurors were clearly not capable of understanding what was going on, which shocked me, the other - that the counsel for the defence were lying through their teeth on behalf of the accused, even to the extent that they sometimes contradicted themselves. It totally ruined my belief in justice, and left me more than a little cynical. A subsequent case as a witness I was leant on very hard by the police to say something other than the truth, (quite scary), and a further case where I witnessed a road rage incident and stood as a witness I found that the complainant was a local gang member who had set up the attack to manipulate the police to retaliate against another gang. I will never willingly act as a witness again, ever. It left such a bad taste in my mouth I couldn't even bear to claim my expenses, despite needing the money!

In a recent case I was the single juror to stick with a Guilty verdict, in spite of the best arguments of other jury members to persuade me differently, and so we were forced to bring in a majority verdict of Not Guilty. I looked the bloke up afterwards and he had lengthy form for exactly the same crime as he'd been accused of. The physical (forensic) evidence was overwhelming, but one very imposing jury member held sway, insisting that unless we had seen the crime with our own eyes, we could not be certain of the man's guilt. (Who then would ever be found guilty?)

I am still hugely angry that this miscreant got away with it (in my opinion). He's since been charged with committing the same offense against another poor woman who will have to endure giving evidence.

I am sure I would have felt the same anger nightowl,

Yes I suppose it depends on the particular case Anniebach and the strength of the evidence. I was surprised at my inner policeman coming to the fore and the anger I felt!

.nightowl, I can understand that, but there have been so many innocent peopled jailed on false evidence it alarms me

Colleague was on a lengthy complex fraud. It went on for many weeks. Some days they were released early and he'd come into school to keep in touch. Headteacher was furious, seemed to think that he was drawing out the case himself!!

Coroner's Court - a prison suicide. Very sad look into a young man's life, and death. Impressed by the care and compassion shown by the coroner.

I was called once but was then working for the LA as a social worker and it was felt that there was too great a risk that I would know the person in the dock.

There was a programme on Radio 4 yesterday that concluded that the chances of being called to actually serve on a jury in UK was about 6 %.

Anniebach I always thought I would be the Henry Fonda on the jury but I'm afraid that as I listened to the evidence I became more and more outraged by the number of lives our defendant had ruined and I was almost glad to find him guilty. I felt we had done his victims and society in general a favour by helping to remove him from society for a long period, and I haven't lost any sleep over his fate since then. What has stayed with me though is the victim's mother's silent 'thank you' to us as the verdict was announced, and I still think of her from time to time.

I have to say though, that I could never have voted for a guilty verdict if the death penalty was in force, however compelling the evidence.

Never had to endure it because I am the widow of a police officer , I fear I would be the Henry Fonda in the room if I did

I attended jury service last year for a 5 week trial of a serial killer. I found it quite harrowing at times and very draining. The seats were hard and didn't do my hip and back any good! The upside was our lovely lunch was brought every day with all kinds of goodies. It was the first and only time I've ever been called and tbh was an experience I'm glad to have had.