Jury Service Summons anyone ?

I was called twice, despite being excused on medical grounds. My GP was raging.
I then received an apology for the error.

I was so relieved, I couldn't have sat for any length of time, my pain levels are very high, my concentration poor and my COPD means I cough constantly.

I understand your ambivalence, I was called to the sheriffs court but I wasn’t needed. I was gutted and relieved in equal measure.
I was summoned again about a year later and did sit on a trial. It was fascinating but quite grim. No one wanted to be spokesman so I said “guilty” and they took him straight to jail.,
I think the coroners court will definitely be a bit grim but it’s all about helping people find closure. You might get called again, it’s the luck of the draw.

When I was 21 I had to have a week off work unpaid for jury service at my local crown court. Had to attend every day and only got picked to serve on one jury. The case was a farce and should never had come to court and was just one day. We where given luncheon vouchers for £2.

The year my husband died was summoned again by then I was 46 as it was after my birthday. My daughter helped me write a letter excusing me from it due to bereavement but mainly because my health had gotten worse when I was 29 and couldn't have travelled and sat all day without causing excessive pain . Had a nice letter back saying I would never be called again as they had taken me off the eligible register.

My daughter has always wanted to be called but so far hasn't.

This was something I always dreaded, so I'm glad I've reached the age where I'm no longer eligible.
Apart from the fact that I have agorophobia, I don't agree with the system. It's too easy for clever lawyers to dupe the public. I think it would be much better to have professional jurors, who are there because they want to be, not because they have to.

I got called about 20 years ago.
Man pleaded guilty before the case actually started.
I was a bit disappointed.
I was told then that I wouldnt get called again for another 3 years, as I had been called already.

Never got called since.

Curtaintwitcher I totally agree with you I ve always dreaded the thought and hoped I never got summoned as it is something I ve known I wouldn’t want to do and I never have thankfully
I may disagree with the verdict wholeheartedly but be in the minority and would have to watch and be part of what I consider the wrong verdict ! How awful is that
I couldn’t sit through the acting of the prosecutor or defended if I didn’t believe in the show he/ she was giving
I don’t think I am able to make more than an armchair verdict and that s NOT good enough
I could be trapped there for hours and days doing something I don’t want to do

I believe the right way to go is to have paid trained jurors as they do in some other countries it is not a waged full time job I think they mostly do a year but they are given some training and it wouldn’t be forced on reluctant or untrained people

Imagine having a person on the jury who has little education or maybe common sense or who is mentally wired to be sympathetic towards some kind of crimes although never been caught as a criminal themselves and not be able to do anything about it I don’t agree with the system we use I think it’s all too sloppy and open to the wrong verdicts Guilty people can get off and good people can get charged

I have never been called either..........holiday planned for June and what are the chances of a call to service then.......would be just my luck.

I’ve served on a Crown Court Jury twice, the first time we had just been sworn in and had heard a part of the Prosecution evidence when we were all asked to leave the court, we went into a side room, after about half an hour we were taken back into court and were told that as the defendant had been charged with the wrong crime we were excused.
We sat around for another few days but weren’t chosen again.

The second time was only a few years ago, a very interesting case, he was obviously guilty, so it didn’t take long to convict him, he had 2 witnesses and the prosecution had 2 , one was a little lad who saw everything from his bedroom window. After he was found guilty we were told that he had a whole raft of charges pending so we weren’t there for his sentencing.

I enjoyed the experience, the worse part was getting into Oxford on time through the traffic.

I’ve also had to appear in a Crown Court as a witness for the prosecution, I’d rather do the Jury duty!

I think the cut off age is 75 for Jury Duty?

I was called 7 yrs ago to Crown Court, I was bored stiff in the waiting area for 4 days ( I took a book and iPad) served on a jury for assault for 2 days he was guilty. Then on day 2 of the second week we were told we wouldn’t be needed anymore. We had lunch vouchers and travel expenses reimbursed although I’d used my freedom pass. I did enjoy the experience but it was mostly boring. My husband in contrast served on a fraud case for 14 wks he was ecstatic no work and paid to sit and just listen he loved it.

I'm 72 and hoped that I was too old, as I am uncomfortable with me making such an important judgement, potentially wrongly.
My daughter was called days after her eighteenth birthday. Subsequent things she has said about her time in the jury box led me to conclude that teenagers, straight from school, with limited life experience might not be the most insightful jurors

I have been called twice and empanelled once. I got a historic sexual abuse case. What had happened was at the very minor end of the range of sexual abuse offences, and had happened only once and I can say, that in conversations outside the jury room, we were very puzzled that such a minor offence should end up in court 25 years after the event. I am in no way defending sexual abuse, or diminishing the effect on the victim.

However we reached our verdict strictly by the evidence. What the sentence was, I do not know as this was reserved for a later date.

I was called to a coroner’s court many years ago. Two of the deaths were obviously suicide with family in each case present and desperate for an accidental verdict. Relieved to be told at end excused for 30 years.

I worked for the probation service at the crown and magistrates courts for several years. We never had to sit through entire trials but was in court for indicting and sentencing. Occasionally during quiet times I would go and listen to bits of interesting trials. I was often struck by how clumsy the questioning of witnesses often was. Nothing slick like on tv.
There was occasionally an element of farce and humour in court and sometimes utter confusion. My most difficult case was recording the verdicts of 6 Chinese men all with incomprehensible names each accompanied by their interpreter. Each of the defendants claimed that they all spoke very different dialects and couldn’t understand each other so all had their own interpreter despite the fact that they had jointly carried out a kidnapping of the son of a wealthy businessman. They all received different sentences. Trying to work out who was who and what they were sentenced to was a nightmare. Even the clerk was confused.
When I started working in Crown I expected to find the judges rather pompous and out of touch with ordinary lives. But I often found myself feeling humbled by their humanity and understanding especially when sentencing someone for the first time particularly women who found themselves controlled by their drug addicted partner. For a first offence they occasionally remanded someone for a week to give them a taste of what prison was like then gave a community order. It was rare that they offended again.
I’ve only once been called for jury service but was exempt due to working for the probation service and having access to records. I’d love to be called again as it was a fascinating experience.

Astitchintime

I have never been called either..........holiday planned for June and what are the chances of a call to service then.......would be just my luck.

Yep, that’s me in a nutshell , I had virtual given up as mentioned in my OP.
But ,but never say never Astitchintime , it’s not over ‘ Till the Fat Lady Sings ‘ lol

winterwhite

I was called to a coroner’s court many years ago. Two of the deaths were obviously suicide with family in each case present and desperate for an accidental verdict. Relieved to be told at end excused for 30 years.

Wintrwhite,
You obviously understand my feeling of not having to endure what could be something similar . My Dh who has dealt with many things like this in his professional life said I have been lucky in being able to be excused .
I wouldn’t have been able to cope with such a degree of information .😢
Though unlike others responses , I see it as a duty to be called .

I was called. I was on two cases, one drug smuggling, the second, as the foreperson, was burglary. Two of the best weeks of my life! It was like Rumpole of the Bailey. It was really interesting, I met some good people and dare I say it, had a bit of a laugh. (Not at anybody’s expense)

Oopsadaisy,
You are correct about the age ,which is why I wrote in my OP that ‘ I my time was limited ‘

I was exempt as I was a social worker and the person in the dock could well have been a client of mine!

Dh has been called twice one was a rape trial and the other a drugs related murder. Dd wanted to do it and was thrilled to be called as a 20 yr old and it was rape trial but particularly nasty as it was a child. Judge excused jury from having to be a jurors ever again. I would hate to be a juror.

I believe the cut off age for compulsory (unless you are excused) is 70. After that you may still be called but can decline.

I would love to have been called while I was employed as I would have got full pay (Local government and academia) but it was not to be. I got called once I had retired from employment and bacame self employed but I was not going to go in my own time. I got excused on health grounds. Never been called again and am now over the age.

My sister has been called twice. Got excused first time as her children were very young and she said she had no childcare support. Second time she had to report but was not chosen for a case.

I think its very much hit and miss.

My husband did it and found it fascinating.
He was quite concerned though that some of the jurors were not very bright, he had to explain an awful lot to them.
I would love to do it.

Both DH and I have been both called and probably neither of the cases should have gone to court. My case, about 40 years ago, was a reclusive old man who claimed to have been burgled. The trouble was he should have had an interpreter as he spoke very little English. The case was dismissed. What I remember most are the uncomfortable high backed pews we sat in.
DH’s case was an alleged rape. However, there was no evidence at all, just he said, she said.

I did it a few years ago - found it very interesting.

Was also summoned decades ago, when I had a 3 year old and an entirely breast fed small baby, plus was only home for a couple of months from the Middle East. Was excused, no problem.
My MiL would gladly have taken my place - she’d never been summoned and was quite miffed about it!

PS, a Canadian relative who was staying with MiL at the time, told me that in Canada I’ve had had to do it, breast-fed small baby or not. How true that is I don’t know - it would seem unduly harsh.