A sexual assault trial has collapsed after one juror fell asleep and a second revealed he had not been able to hear crucial evidence.
The entire jury in the case at Sheffield Crown Court was discharged on Monday after a string of problems the trial judge described as “astonishing”.
A third juror had to withdraw from proceedings during deliberations after falling ill with an infectious disease.
Judge Jeremy Richardson KC ordered that the defendant should face a retrial.
He said: “Too much has gone wrong in this case. We really must start again and do it properly.”
One juror was discharged last week after several people in court noticed he had been falling asleep.
The judge said it had been established the juror had missed “important evidence” due to nodding off.
Meanwhile, a second juror, who suffered from the ear disorder tinnitus, was later excluded from proceedings after admitting he had not been able to hear the complainant as she gave evidence earlier in the trial.
‘Heavy heart’
Mr Richardson said: “It’s astonishing that firstly one juror should fall asleep during an important trial and secondly that another juror should have, late in the day, reported to the court that he had not heard material portions of the evidence.”
The remaining 10 jurors retired to consider their verdict on Friday, but on Monday it emerged one of them was suffering from a highly infectious illness and would have to be discharged.
The judge said the trial was allowed by law to proceed with only nine jurors, however he agreed to dismiss the jury after the defendant’s lawyer argued it would be unfair to continue.
Mr Richardson: “I do so with a very, very heavy heart – but the fairness of these proceedings is sacrosanct.”
The defendant is expected to face a retrial with a new jury next year.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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