![\"Sky](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/sky-news-logo-1.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four jurors have been sentenced after a conspiracy to murder trial collapsed when they were found to be carrying out their own research on the internet.<\/p>\n
The jurors used their mobile phones to search for details of the defendants, who were standing trial over two shootings in Nottinghamshire in 2018.<\/p>\n
The research – which is illegal because jurors should only use evidence heard in court to come to their conclusions – came to light as jury members deliberated their verdicts following the end of evidence in the case.<\/p>\n
An investigation was launched, four people were charged and the trial collapsed, costing an estimated \u00a31.4million to the public purse. A retrial was ordered.<\/p>\n
Now the jurors – Tina Denning, Ann-Marie Fletcher, Sharon Doughty, and Jamie Lowe, have all been sentenced for breaching the Juries Act 1974.<\/p>\n
The trial involved two shootings, one in October 2018, when multiple shots were fired through the window of a house in Upper Langwith near the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire border.<\/p>\n
The second took place in November that year when a young woman was hit in the arm when a gunman riding a moped fired five shots toward the Das Kino bar in Fletcher Gate, Nottingham city centre.<\/p>\n
Eight people were charged with a number of offences connected to both incidents – resulting in a long-running trial held at Nottingham Crown Court at the end of 2019 and into the start of 2020.<\/p>\n
Immediately after the jury was sworn in, in October 2019, members were warned they should not carry out their own research on any aspect of the case and were warned – repeatedly – that doing so would be a criminal offence.<\/p>\n
The jury retired to consider verdicts regarding six of the defendants in February 2020.<\/p>\n
It was during deliberations that concerns were raised about jurors carrying out their own research, and in some cases, sharing that research with others.<\/p>\n
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Sinski from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit said: “Not only did this offending result in a significant monetary wastage to the public purse, but the collapse of the trial caused witnesses to have to go through the traumatic experience of giving their evidence again at a retrial, as well as causing delay to the resolution of the case.<\/p>\n
“These four jurors were well aware that they should not have been engaging in their own research into aspects of this case.<\/p>\n
“Any action which interferes with the administration of justice is a serious breach and I hope the sentences imposed sends a warning to other jurors about their essential responsibilities.”<\/p>\n
Fletcher, 41, pleaded guilty to four counts of researching the case during the trial period and was given a six-month sentence suspended for a year, and 120 hours unpaid work.<\/p>\n
Doughty, 51, pleaded guilty to two of the same counts and a further charge of intentionally disclosing information to other jury members during the trial period.<\/p>\n
She was given a six-month sentence suspended for a year, and 120 hours unpaid work.<\/p>\n
Lowe, 27, pleaded guilty to four counts of researching the case and was given a four-month sentence suspended for a year and must complete 80 hours unpaid work.<\/p>\n
Denning, aged 50, pleaded guilty to one count of researching the case during the trial period and a second count of intentionally disclosing information to other jury members during the trial period.<\/p>\n
She was handed a four-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, alongside 80 hours unpaid work.<\/p>\n
Source: \u00a0<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"