Day 2

Day 2 at The Old Bailey and the prospect of being selected . On the one hand the thought of 4 weeks away from work and the loss of income. On the other a sense of duty. I decide if it is meant to be then it will be a once in a lifetime experience and a privilege. Hopefully my various employers will be understanding.

I decide to upgrade myself in terms of what I am wearing. Yesterday I wore smart -caz black trousers and a black jumper- safe bet. Today, I dig out the navy Armani trouser suit - I was once told that if you dress supersmart the Defence may object to you -(as is their right) -(go figure that one )- so I decide to load the odds in my favour. I feel a twinge of guilt that I am more concerned about my bank balance when this is about people's lives.

10.00 call. Usual queue to get in and up to Jury Assembly. Spot one or two from my 20 and sit down with a cuppa for a chat. It's fascinating to talk to people you wouldn't normally meet. I talk to a would be novelist, a child protection officer and the barrister who is still in the pool despite his best endeavours. He's sorted himself out and happy to do it now if chosen. He asked why I hadn't approached the Judge - told him his treatment had put me off!

I am amazed to discover from him that following a change of law in 2003 members of the legal profession, the court service itself and the police can be called for jury service aswell. I would have thought that being 'in the biz' they would have been exempt.
So we sit ...........and we wait and..... wait.... and wait. The tannoy is constantly calling for the various courts but we don't move unless told to by our court clerks.

At midday our court usher dismisses us for 2 hours, telling us to return at 2.
The judge isn't ready for us yet. ( or we for him I think!)

Go for a long walk around the area. St Pauls is just up the road and I had forgotten how gorgeously impressive it is close up. All cleaned up, it's like a delicious wedding cake. I have moaned alot about London in the last few years but this part of the city is really interesting (and clean!). Resolve to explore it more if I get the chance.

Head back after an hour for a splurge on my swipe card. Lunch is passable -like school dinners used to be before the advent of fast food. Mushroom stroganoff and because I can't resist comfort food , peach sponge and hot custard.

More waiting, more chat. Jury assembly is fairly empty after lunch as those who are now on cases have disappeared -leaving us, the last remaining 20, wondering what is happening. The barrister ventures that there is alot of legal setting up and horse trading going on. Who knows.

Just as I am convinced the day is a write off, at 3.15 we are summoned. 20 of us head back to Court 16 to await the random selection of 12....(we've been waiting for this since 10.00)
Infront of the Court one of the clerks starts reading out names. If called we are to step forward and take a place in the Jury Box. (It crosses my mind that it feels like the elimination process in a TV reality show then kick myself for being so vacuous- this is serious stuff)
The barrister and the child protection officer I have been chatting with get chosen ......one by one the names get read out....we get to the 12th name and......it's not me !

We remaining 8 are instructed to wait as the defendants and their counsel may now exercise their right of objection. We are the possible candidates on the 'subs bench' now. One query only , no substitutions ...and the 12 are sworn in. Each raising a bible in their right hand and taking the oath. I am struck by the enormity of it all. The Judge dismisses the rest of us and we head back to an empty Jury Assembly, leaving the new Jury to find out what the case actually is.

The Jury manager meets us and tells us that all cases from Monday/Tuesday are now assigned. Next jury selection will start Friday. We are to ring in Thursday and find out what our Friday call time will be.

I have a chat with him about the prospect of my service extending another week and my fear of being on a long case. He assures me that that the Bailey does have short cases too and tells me I must put my concerns forward if I am preselected for a big one. After seeing one judge in action I am dubious to say the least! But the Jury manager tells me that self employment is a factor they will consider. Resolve to not be such a wimp if it happens again.

There is a real biggie starting next week -you will hear about it on the news no doubt - I wonder if some wierd pre-destiny is at work...and try and shake the feeling off before I freak myself out. It's one I've followed and I wonder if that would rule me out. How do you avoid high profile cases in the media and not form an opinion?

Time to head home. Bump into the barrister and child protection officer on the ground floor - the case will kick off for them on Wednesday morning. It's a murder. I wish them well.

I have a head full of 2 days of not alot happening but alot learned. Must remember to fill in my timesheet. It's for claiming travel, expenses , etc .

It costs the public purse £120 a minute to run a court. (There are 18 courts in the Bailey alone.) It's costing you an awful lot to subsidise me sitting around drinking tea and chatting! But the process of the law is subject to its own timescale. Just aswell really. If it was you in the dock you wouldn't want a rush job now would you?

Was that my name ? ( Day 1 -the conclusion)

Ok , so I've had my cuppa, scanned the paper and had a bit of a chat with one or two fellow new jurors. It's 10.30 . More batches of names are read out and people led away. Eventually it's my turn.

30 of us are led down to Court 16. ('Oooh!', says one of my fellow jurors, 'We're being sent down'. Nervous laughter at this choice of phrase.) We're a real mixed bunch, young ,older, smart, casual, all colours and sexes -all looking slightly apprehensive. Very democratic.

We congregate outside in a huddle, waiting for the nod. One lively, smiley chap -full of enthusiasm , asks me if I have a good excuse ready if it's a long runner. I haven't made my mind up yet what constitues a good excuse- the Judge may just say 'tough! It's your civic duty!' If it turns out to be a real epic the loss of earnings does not thrill. I know of one friend who was at The Bailey for a year. But then the BBC were paying her.

Suddenly our usher springs into action, the doors are opened and we shuffle in.

It's a smaller court room, modern,overall impression -lots of beechwood. We line the side wall. All the court is assembled including the occupant(s) of the dock . The judge tells us the case is likely to run a month and 20 names will be called at random. If our name is called we are to approach the bench and explain to him if we have a problem with the duration of the case. In front of everyone. Gulp.

First up the lively fellow I had chatted with outside. My Lord , he says, I am a member of the bar. I have my own cases to prepare. I can serve 2 weeks but longer may be a problem. The Judge says in not so many words that as a member of the legal profession he knows how the system works. His excuse is not accepted. Others step forward as their names are called. It appears that only a medical condition or a pre-booked holiday merits a return to the jurors' pool.

This is so unlike Southwark where small cases usually run one or two weeks and if a longer one was expected you just had to stick your hand up in the jury room to be removed from selection. But hey- this is The Bailey. I should have known better.

I hear my name. I am not even going to try and persuade His Honour and will put it in the hands of fate and random selection.

And so we are whittled down to 20. The Judge decides that the selection of 12 will happen the next day - apparently there are matters the court needs to discuss before the case kicks off. The 10 'rejects' go back to Jury Assembly and we 20 are dismissed for the day til Tuesday. It is 11.30am

There are camera crews outside. I can't resist asking who they are waiting for. 'Terrorists' says a camerawoman. I leg it up the street to the tube.

...and that was Day 1.

Clocking In

Day 3 of Jury Service -a day off!
Which gives me a chance to catch up on Day 1 -so here we go
Day 1.
Monday morning :Required to report at 09.00am. Head for St Paul's tube. Old Bailey is the name of the street where the Central Criminal Court ( to give it it's proper name) is sited -and a five minute walk from the tube station. You can't miss the jurors' entrance -the queue snakes back down the street.
The security is pretty tight. No one can go in and out without flashing their official summons form at all times. You file slowly past security reception 2 abreast, enter a cylindrical container ('wait for the green light'!) which opens on one side to admit you , pauses, then disgorges you on the other side (very 'beam me up scotty' ) then through the airport style scanners and you're in.

Ahead in the main ground floor reception is a first day jurors' information point. Barristers swish past, police, security men, cleaners, solicitors- it's all busy busy busy. I am in awe. Can't help feeling a sense of history and slightly overwhelming responsibility. If Southwark was Frinton Rep -this is the RSC.

Told to go to the 5th floor. (Given a security code that opens the doors.) Lifts packed with fellow first dayers all looking apprehensive,impassive or cool.

Arrive at 'Jury Assembly' -this is to be our home for the duration when not required in court.
Long queue to be issued with a swipe card programmed with our daily food and drink allowance -a fiver! Any thoughts of saving it up for a binge at the end of the week are quickly dispelled, it's preprogrammed every day -so use it or lose it.
It's a large room furnished with armchairs, sofas, and a food service/ eating area at one end. 3 large tv screens hanging over head -(it's 09.30 and Will & Grace is on...Channel 4 -the Bailey jurors' choice) ).
Find a seat -this is hard as the room is packed full of seasoned jurors and the new Monday intake.
When everyone is seated and settled it's roll call time for the newbies. Strange feeling of deja vu - it's just like the first day at school.
A portly gentleman in a black robe wearing a Madonna headset introduces himself as Mike the Jury Manager and fills us in on various bits of info -who's who, who we can ask if we have any problems etc etc and then we are shown The Video.
Actually -it's very informative and well presented by a girlie who I don't recognise but has that air of friendly newsreader authority about her.
The video takes us through what will happen from selection to court -and by the end of it one feels a little less daunted.
You can take a similar tour on the net if you want a taster from the juror's perspective. www.juror.cjsonline.org

Then it's wait around time. Having done it before I know there's going to be alot of this. Time to test the swipe card , grab a cuppa and get the paper out.
Every so often a court usher -all black robed and authoritative - reads a batch of names out with instructions to follow. Actually they could do with a bit of voice training as we all strain to hear -terrified we will miss our names.

2 weeks is the legal requirement for jury service but as the selection of a jury is random, and some cases may take longer -sometimes 30 or more potential jurors can be selected by computer and taken up to a court room . There the judge will tell you if the case is likely to run longer than 2 weeks and anyone who may have a problem with this can ask to be put back into the pool for possible selection to a shorter case. But only if the Judge decides. ( and it's My Lord or Lady here at the Bailey -as in 'M' Lud, or M' Lady'- not 'yer honour' ....!)

Me being me , I strike up one or two conversations. You soon find out who just wants to stick their nose in a book and who is relieved to share their impressions and concerns! Talk to a London cabbie. He is worrying about getting stuck on a long runner ( he's not the only one !) - and thinks he will have to work evenings and weekends to make up for the loss of earnings. (You are allowed to do this - just not allowed to discuss any case you are on)

If you are self employed you can claim loss of earnings up to £56.96 a full day but ONLY if you can prove you lost money on the day you were claiming for.

So it's a waiting game- until my name is called.

Old Bailey ...the Summons

Three years ago I was called up for Jury Service at Southwark Crown Court. At the time I remember thinking 'I wish it was The Bailey' . Be careful what you wish for. For all those who thought that jury service comes once in a lifetime - this week I started my second stint -only 3 years after my first. At the Old Bailey.
Now I happen to be one of those people who is not too impressed by those whose first reaction is 'How can I get out of this?'
You know who you are.
One day it might be you sitting there in the dock .At the mercy of 12 random strangers. And believe me you will be hoping that the level of education and intelligence among those strangers is high enough to process what went on during your trial. And arrive at a fair and balanced verdict.

The law quite rightly forbids that I divulge details here. But I'll just say this. At Southwark I encountered one fellow juror whose grasp of what she had been listening to was limited. 'Which one's the defendant?' ; another who was convinced that the defendant's race was enough to indicate guilt and another who based her judgement on the defendant's facial expressions.

There are people like this sitting on juries every day of the year throughout this land . If you don't want to be tried by them, then for goodness sake bite the bullet when it's your turn!

So to the Bailey.
Well so far - I have not been assigned to a case.
More when I have . But not about the case . Ofcourse.