The country’s most senior judge has slammed Merseyside police for their “unacceptable” investigation into jury tampering during a rape trial.
The Lord Chief Justice also suggested that attempts to nobble jurors in Liverpool and the surrounding area were “well known”.
The investigation centred around an approach by the nephew of a defendant at Liverpool Crown Court to a woman who was on his uncle’s jury.
The man Facebook friended the female juror, who was said to be “tall and attractive”, and when caught claimed he had just been surfing the net looking for attractive women – an excuse described as “fanciful” by Judge Hatton.
But his attentions left her “manifestly too frightened” and asking to be excused being on the panel.
In an extremely rare move, Judge Andrew Hatton, who was presiding over the trial in November 2014, allowed the hearing to continue without the jury after agreeing the social media approach was deliberate jury tampering.
Sitting in the appeal court today the nation’s top judge attacked Merseyside Police for handing the subsequent probe to junior detectives, instead of more senior officers.
Pic Andrew Teebay. Stock pic. Judge Andrew Hatton at Liverpool Crown Court.
Lord Thomas said: “The investigation carried out by the police was of an unacceptably low standard.
“The Merseyside Constabulary should never have entrusted such a serious matter to such junior policemen, given the well-known problems in relation to attempts to interfere with juries in Liverpool”.
“Police should give the highest priority and urgency to jury tampering investigations.
“Such inquiries should be carried out by senior officers under the close supervision of trial judges.
“We were told that the police did not examine the man’s phone or Facebook account.
“An inspector who reviewed the case made that decision without any reference to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Given the gravity of the allegation and its significance to the administration of justice, this lack of proper attention to what had happened and why was undeniably unacceptable.”
The Lord Chief Justice and two other Court of Appeal judges ordered a copy of their written ruling – which sets out the duties of police when such allegations are made – should be sent to every chief constable.
The sign outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, central London. Photo: Nick Ansell/PA Wire
The defendant at the trial was accused of raping a woman who believed her drink had been spiked. He claimed that what happened between them was consensual.
He had been in the witness box for about an hour before the jury complained to Judge Hatton.
As well as being contacted directly through Facebook the terrified juror also warned a court usher that ‘men in the public gallery appeared to be fiddling with their mobile telephones’.
The man, who said the defendant was his uncle, claimed he had ‘made a terrible mistake’ when surfing for attractive women on the internet.
When he realised he had mistakenly contacted a member of the jury, he swiftly ‘unfriended’ her, he said.
And he denied having made any attempt to intimidate the woman or tamper with the jury.
Judge Hatton said it would be an ‘affront to common sense’ to assume that the defendant was not in some way involved in the attempt to affect the juror’s decision.
The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, Liverpool Crown Court. File picture. Photo by Ian Cooper
He added that the man’s motive was either to intimidate the juror or to develop a relationship with her so that he could influence the jury’s verdict.
Lord Thomas said Judge Hatton’s decision to continue the trial without a jury was ‘correct.’
A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: “We note the judgement of the Court of Appeal that has been handed down today and when it is received we will go through it in detail.
“Once we have considered the written ruling the force will be in a position to comment further.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/