Caught by the fuzz...

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I was a naive twenty eight- ish year old on my duty and was amazed at the collective lack of integrity of the jurors. Despite repeatedly being told that only the evidence given in court should be considered, one juror kept on referring to the colours of the livery on the allegedly stolen lorry as "not like them I seen!". Only after two days of testimony did another juror reveal that the accused was a neighbour of his and that he knew him. Cue aborting of the trial.

[Norman Verona]

Another was a "Death through dangerous driving". I won't go into detail but it was clear to me that he wasn't guilty. The judge even reminded us that we must decide on the terms of the charge not on whether he was reckless or driving too fast - only if he drove dangerously which led to the death of the drunken man who crossed the road against red lights.

I had all but one agreeing. After an hour or so arguing with the last person it dawned on me.

"Do you drive?"

"No"

"do you travel in a car often?"

"No, I use the tube"

"Are you qualified to go against all of the rest of us who say he's not guilty?"

"Well if you put it that way I'd better change my vote"

The women next to me started to say that he shouldn't be pressured into changing his mind but I kicked her before she got very far.

The look on the young lads face when he was aquitted is one I'll never forget. That was over 30 years ago but I'll put money on the fact that even today he'll not race another car from the lights at midnight.