Should 70-75 year old people sit on a jury?

My experience of being a juror was that it was quite exhausting as you have to listen very intently to all the evidence and arguement. However I did find that our background knowledge both for myself and my fellow jurors some what lacking. Some of the evidence shown to us was not understood by us. This became clear when we discussed where we had reached with the case in the jury room long before we retired to reach a verdict. It happened to be a particulay complex case and I think in this instance the younger jurors understood better than us who were bit older. There is also the issue of time. Some cases are quite short others can take weeks. On balance I believe we golden oldies are best left out of this one.

I agree, Jack. I have said in an earlier post that stamina might be an issue but I also think emotional strain needs to be considered.

Having spent most of a long day listening, concentrating, note taking, etc., you get home and it's like a normal day after work - cooking a meal, walking the dog, except the adrenalin takes a while to calm down and of course you can't discuss any of it with anyone. The case I was on involved a child witness to a crime of GBH. I was glad that DH was working away so I could just eat a quick supper, have a glass of wine and go to bed early.

Fortunately the case did not drag on but I think I would have been wiped out by it if I were in my seventies.

Realise I said "gas jets", meant nipples, the small brass screw in thing's that let the gas out and have to be of a particular size to ensure the gas burns effectively and safely.The defendant had stolen thousands of them and taken them to a scrap yard.
You may remember chaps coming around changing these things on your stoves, fires etc, and burning off the residual town gas using standpipes, usually at the ends of the streets.

I was a juror in my middle sixties.

It was exciting. But it was also boring, stressful and upsetting.

It meant getting up early and driving through heavy traffic and then trying to find a parking space in a town which doesn't have very many. Then back through heavy traffic at the end of the day. This went on for two weeks, could have been longer.

There was an emotional strain felt by all of us I think. This was expressed by childish behaviour and slightly manic joking when we were closeted in a room trying to decide on guilty/not guilty.

The case was an accusation of inappropriate behaviour by a grandfather towards his young grandchildren. The whole family was in a dreadful state. So we were all drained and upset at the end. You can't help wondering if you reached the right decision or not.

So, I'm sure some 75 year olds would be able to stand all that but many would not yet they might be forced into the situation if there was not sufficient reason for them to be excused.

I was thinking about this topic whilst I was out today and I realised I would be happy to have any of the people I 'know' on GN on a jury in a case where I was the defendant but I don't think we are typical of our age group. In fact, how many of us are 75?

75 & another lump on that

You"re are not , are you DES?

No, deserving I don't remember anyone coming round to change my gas jets (or even nipples!) At 74 I must be just a young whippersnapper.

I wonder how many of us do remember that?

Shouldn't we be opposing ageism in all it's forms rather than inviting it? I want to be able to decide for myself that I am too old/ infirm/ frail to carry out activities such as sitting on a jury, not be ruled out on the basis of my year of birth.

Yes nightowl- says it all

Elegran That was when gas appliances needed changes to operate with natural gas – the same time that Mrs Thatcher sold off the North Sea gas fields for a mess of potage.

When an aged relative's dangerous driving led to a serious accident and his licence being taken away he was sure he was a victim of ageism.

Elderly people aren't always the best judges of their own competence.

The worrying thing Nightowl is that, unless you have a really good reason, it isn't possible to opt out of Jury Service.

I know kitty I suppose I was just thinking that in an ideal word it ought to be possible to opt out on medical grounds (which may be age related) rather than grounds of age alone. Had a nightmare week at work, not thinking or expressing myself very coherently I'm afraid. Need to sleep ......

I think that over say 75, there should be the option to opt out. And I'm sure if someone isn't competent it'd get picked up on pretty quick and they just be rejected - as happens now across the present age range.