Jury Service??

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Don't think you'll get a busy day tomorrow, most of them are for sentencing

http://www.courtnews1.co.uk/courtlis...T080331.01.htm

Thanks for that link, Lancsdave.

How marvellous. Looks like I'll be spending the morning waiting around then.

[BERNADETTE]

Originally Posted by slinky

Here ya go...... ya can always sit on this case, if the other one fails

You are mad, good luck Lilly

[slinky]

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

You are mad,

Someone had said !!

[garinda]

Good luck Lilly, and try and remember that hanging isn't an option anymore.

[BERNADETTE]

Originally Posted by garinda

Good luck Lilly, and try and remember that hanging isn't an option anymore.

Unfortunately

[garinda]

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

Unfortunately

There's probably a joke there, about the only criminal worth seeing being a well hung criminal, but I couldn't be so rude.

[BERNADETTE]

Originally Posted by garinda

There's probably a joke there, about the only criminal worth seeing being a well hung criminal, but I couldn't be so rude.

No not a good idea behave yourself (for once)

[Lilly]

Well, what a day!

It was utterly ghastly. I was up at 7am and caught the 7.50 am bus to Burnley. I didn't have to be at court until 9.30am but the bus to Burnley was only once an hour so it was either catch the 7.50am bus to arrive in Burnley at 8.20am or catch the 8.50am bus to arrive in Burnley at 9.20am.
I went for the earlier one to allow for some wandering about getting lost time as I don't know Burnley and I got to court at 8.45am.

I sat on my own in the jury room at court until about 9.15am when the others started to arrive. There were 30 of us by 9.30am.

At about 10am the court usher came into the room and proceeded to take us through the jury dos and don'ts and we were shown round a court room. This bit was very interesting and we learnt who sits where in a court room and we got to sit in the jury area.

We were then taken back to the jury room and shown a video about what being a juror entails.

We were talked at all morning until 12 noon which was quite draining. There was one juror who kept nodding off and snoring like a train, very annoying and God only knows what he'd be like on a trial, he couldn't stay awake for 10 mins at a time.

At 12 noon, 30 people were whittled down to 18. Twelve were sent home, told they wouldn't be needed tomorrow and to ring court at 4pm tomorrow to see if they would be required on Wednesday. I was one of the 18 who stayed on.

Lunch was from 1pm until 2.15pm and we were issued with a smart card with £5.27 credit (what a strange amount) on it to buy our lunch in the canteen. The jurors have a separate canteen. It was very small and the selection was abysmal. There were about 6 plastic sandwiches to choose from or we could have pastie or steak pudding and chips....urgh. If I'd eaten that I'd have been snoring away like that fella.

Luckily there were some lovely people and I met a few like minded folk to go for a fag with. Here lies the funny thing. They give jurors a separate canteen to keep them apart from the defendants but when you go outside for a fag there's no separation, you could be standing next to anybody!

At 2.15pm we went back to the jury room and were told that there was to be a trial in the afternoon. The barristers were just debating some points of law and then a jury would be sworn in. We sat in that little room, with that fella snoring his head off, from 2.15pm until 4.30pm. It was like being in the Doctor's waiting room for 2 hours. For 2 hours we sat there like cheese at fourpence and then the usher came to tell us that the three lads on trial has just pleading guilty to drugs offences and therefore there would be no need for a trial.

We were free to leave, we will not be needed tomorrow and we have to ring to see if we will be needed on Wednesday, just like the others. I had just missed the 4.20pm bus so I walked with another juror from Accrington to the bus station to see what time the next one was.....not until 5.40pm as it turned out. We were totally fed up by this point so she, who knew Burnley much better then me, suggested we go to the train station. We ended up getting on a train at 5pm and arrived back in Accrington at 5.20pm. Luckily my hubby had just finished work at this point so he picked me up in Accy and I was home for 5.40pm, the same time as I would have been getting on the bus in Burnley if I'd waited for that.

God, I thought that this jury malarky was going to be so exciting. I suppose it is if you actually get to sit on a trial but the waiting around is horrendous if you don't. Thank God I had my mum helping me out with childcare as I don't know what I would have done otherwise. Who else can you ask to pick your kids up from school when you can't even say what time you'll be home each day? It could be 1pm, 2pm, 4pm or 5.30pm, you could get sent home at any time.

It was a total waste of time and we are no further on than we were at 9am this morning. I'm dreading Wednesday now and as I am not in court tomorrow I will have to go in to work. They were expecting me to be absent for 2 weeks so I will have to listen to cries of 'what are you doing here?' and repeat this sorry tale about 20 times.

The good news is that if you get summoned again within the next 2 years you have the right to refuse. After the day I've had, if I get called again within 2 years, I won't hesitate to refuse.

[garinda]

It is the daftest thing ever, as I posted earlier when I did jury service in London, you're kept totally isolated until you have to go outside for a cigarette, when it's cons, jury, and lawyers, all puffing away together.

[harwood red]

Originally Posted by garinda

It is the daftest thing ever, as I posted earlier when I did jury service in London, you're kept totally isolated until you have to go outside for a cigarette, when it's cons, jury, and lawyers, all puffing away together.

Have to agree, I went for a fag at Burnley crown court, was a prosecution witness and was kept in the witness room, but when I went out for a fag I bumped into one of the defendants as I went down the stairs and he was going up!!!!!!!

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by harwood red

Have to agree, I went for a fag at Burnley crown court, was a prosecution witness and was kept in the witness room, but when I went out for a fag I bumped into one of the defendants as I went down the stairs and he was going up!!!!!!!

Did he shake your hand and thank you for coming Red

[Lilly]

Well, I phoned court today to see if they want me to go in tomorrow and they do.

I am hoping that it will not be another day of waiting around like Monday. The thought of another 8 days of that makes me want to cry.

[slinky]

Originally Posted by Lilly

Well, I phoned court today to see if they want me to go in tomorrow and they do.

I am hoping that it will not be another day of waiting around like Monday. The thought of another 8 days of that makes me want to cry.

OH ******!!! and here was me wishing it was me!! not now....poor Lilly

[Lilly]

Today was just as bad as Monday only not quite as long.

I arrived at 10.15am, all 30 of us had been asked to return today. At 11am 30 were whittled down to 18 and again I was one of the 18 asked to stay on.

We were told that there were two trials on for today. We sat waiting for 2 hours and at 1pm we were told that both defendants had pleaded guilty to their charges therefore both trials would not be happening.

The 12 people whose names hadn't been picked out were told that they could go home. They will not be needed tomorrow and no trials start on Fridays (courts only run on Fridays for existing trials) so they were told to return on Monday morning at 10.30am.

For one blissful moment we thought that we too would be released as scheduled trials for today would not be going ahead. Then another man entered the room and said to the usher that there was the possibility that a trial would be coming over from Preston this afternoon. Just a possibilty mind, the judge was going to make a decision over lunch and would let us know after that. We were told at 1pm to go for some lunch and return at 2.15pm to see if we would be required this afternoon.

This was all too similar to Monday. We moaned and groaned and thought we would be stuck there until 4.30pm again. We had our lunch and a mooch round Burnley and returned to court at 2.15pm. At 3pm the usher informed us that the trial is indeed coming to Burnley from Preston.......but not until tomorrow so we were free to go and could we come back tomorrow morning at 10.30am.

It is absolutely soul destroying. I was told by many people before I started this to expect some waiting but I never expected this much waiting! Two full days of it.....and it's not over yet. What's the betting that we turn up tomorrow, hang about all morning, go for lunch and then the defendant pleads guilty in the afternoon and we get sent home again?

It's another world in that court. Five minutes means half an hour and half an hour means a morning.

No-one arrives at court before 10.30am, lunch is 1pm - 2.15pm and they finish for the day at 4pm.....and so much wasted time in between.

It also appears to be the case that the barristers do everything in their power to get the defendant to plead guilty therefore eliminating the need for a trial. They spend ages persuading and bargaining with them and finally it seems to work and they do. All very good for the barristers I suppose who still get their wages without having to go through the hassle of cross examining them in trial. Not so good for the poor sods on jury service who are wasting hours on end sitting in a waiting room.

To top it all off the snoring man was there again today, treating us all to the sound of his wonderful repertoire of farm animal noises.

Another week of this and I reckon I might be the one in the dock on a murder charge.

[slinky]

Originally Posted by Lilly

Another week of this and I reckon I might be the one in the dock on a murder charge.

LMFAO!!! I'm not laughing at your court ordeal, I'm laughing at the possibility of you killing the snoring man

If you end up killing him, and I am on Jury at your trial..... please don't plead guilty!! have a thought for us poor sods waiting round will ya