Summary The woman was dismissed after she asked court usher if the witness was single. Photo: Joe Dunckley
(Web Desk) - A female juror was discharged from a case for repeatedly inquiring about the relationship status of a detective.
The woman was running a terror trial and asked if DS Ryan Chambers was spoken for at least three times, after he gave evidence about alleged terrorists accused of plotting a bomb and knife rampage between 25 May and 26 August last year, The Independent reported.
The juror s credibility during the four-month long case came in to question when she made the inquiry after finding out that a female colleague had developed a liking towards the detective.
Justice Henry Globe postponed the trial and demanded both women were questioned about the situation.
The defendants, Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 25, Mohibur Rahman, 32, and Tahir Aziz, 38, who called themselves the “Three Musketeers”, have denied preparing terrorist acts.
After being questioned, the woman who admitted finding the officer attractive said the other juror had asked court staff if he was single without her consent.
When asked if she could remain faithful to her oath, she replied: “Yes, absolutely!”
Judge Globe said he decided she could continue serving, because he was satisfied she could reach impartial verdicts “without being influenced by outside matters such as superficial attractiveness”.
“The inquiries that I have conducted have led to one among your number telling me that juror did find him attractive but hadn’t expressed any interest in finding out whether he was single, but she said another juror had jokingly asked whether that was the case.”
The “match-maker” juror claimed she had not asked the court usher about the detective’s relationship status.
Judge Globe discharged her and told jurors that her answers were “really unsatisfactory”.
“She has not accepted that she was trying to find out from the court usher on more than one occasion whether DS Chambers was single,” he said.
The judge said he could not accept the answer because he had seen “clear information” from the court usher that she had asked if DS Chambers was single.
“Trying to investigate details about that person is wholly and utterly wrong,” he added.
However, the trial I expected to continue on Monday.
The judge decided to allow the group proceed with the trial after discharging the juror considering that the rest of them had not been part of the conversation.
