The lying juror - The right Punishment?

[grffindoor2011]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...d-manchester-16315486

I read yesterday the attitude of the mother who thought her son should be given a slap on the wrist. This is often the attitude of parents and individuals when they downplay wrongdoings. Even on here there was a comment from someone in a posting that 'I only broke someones eye socket'.

People need to realise that in this case, lying to a court, thus possibly affecting an accused's life should be met with punishment. If slaps on the wrist were given for bunking off jury service we would all be at it. Cases would never end.

I hope they fail in their appeal and hope that this case sends out a strong signal to everyone else, ''tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth'', even if you are just the juror.

[joko]

sorry i didnt realise that his actions had stopped the case...i thought he was just absent for the day, and would continue where he left off next day.

still think prison is a bit harsh - i understand why he was all excited to go and didnt see the harm i suppose... but a fine is enough of a punishment.

i agree with other comments to that hes hardlythe sort of person that should be judging peoples lives anyway - he seems quite immature.

i think jurors should undergo a lot of tests, to weed out people with ingrained prejudices and people with a lack of understanding, intelligence and common sense.
an understanding of human nature, and a capacity for reasoning etc should be ensured too.

there are too many people whose opinions go no deeper that "its just wrong innit", and who judge on silly things like eyes too close together and 'he looks shifty' type stuff...and thats not good enough.

[tonywiltshire]

I do not disagree with you joko but can you imagine the outcry from various organisations, who would never agree, if conditions were applied to serving as a juror.
At present to be qualified to serve on a jury for a criminal case you must: -
· Be 18 years of age or older
· Be on the electoral register
· Have lived in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for a period of at least five years since the age of 13
· Not be on the list of people on the Notice to Potential Jurors who are either disqualified or ineligible. The list of disqualified or ineligible people includes staff of the court service and police and anyone with a criminal conviction, which is not yet spent.
There is no upper age limit for serving on a jury for a criminal case, but you can be excused from jury service if you are 71 years of age or older and you do not want to serve on a jury.

[chrissa1]

It's the Law!! If he just got off with a fine, everybody would do it to get out of Jury Service. Serves him right.

[joko]

exactly tony - so you can basically be unhinged, deluded, racist, homophobic, chauvenistic, mysogynistic, sociopathic etc etc... as long as you technically fit those criteria.

[chrissa1]

They have a different system in the US don't they? Both sides have the right to object to certain jurors.

[hc4361]

Police officers cannot serve on the jury in Scotland but they can in England and Wales.
Hence this incident:
http://www.dailymail....ervice-time-work.html

[tonywiltshire]

Yes you can joko and many juries do have this type of person.

[Paul22118]

Sadly this is typical attitude of your apparently educated, modern day teenager.

[ludwig]

Some kind of community service seems more appropriate punishment to me.

[joko]

Read all about it, read all about it !! Hold the front page!
Teenager behaves like a teenager shocker!!
A teenage has demonstrated the fall of society as we know it - because he shockingly acted like teenagers do! Like a self absorbed, thoughtless thrill seeker who didn't consider fully his actions... Bring back hanging!!

[MRsnail]

harsh [ not sure he needed t be jailed for it seems extreme, maybe a fine would of been suffice