The Jury

Being a Court Clerk I did not normally act as Jury Bailiff, but because it was summer there were more Ushers off work than normal and there was a shortage of staff; so when I was asked to step in to fill a gap during a Crown Court trial I didn't mind at all. I am a multitasker and was pleased to have a new experience.

I was given a black gown to wear which made me feel very important. I sat on a side bench in Court until the Judge had finished summing up the case and had directed the jurors as to what was expected of them in their civic duty. Then I appeared in the witness box and took oath to keep them safely in a private and convenient place, to prevent them from speaking to anyone else and not to speak to them myself except to ask them if they are agreed on their verdict. I then took them through a side door into the ante room, into the lift down a floor, down some steps and along numerous corridors to the deliberation room. Here there was a mini toilet suite, a hot drinks making facility and a long table set out with paper and pens, neatly surrounded by twelve chairs which I had prepared earlier. I took from them each their written lunch requests and then turned to leave the room preparing to lock them in.

As I was leaving I felt a hand on my sleeve which was attached to a very worried, nervous female juror who had a big problem; she looked very flustered and red faced and she was flapping about all over the place. Her problem was that she had parked her car in the public car park next to the court but had only paid and displayed for a half day on the optimistic assumption that she would not be selected for a trial. Much to her unhappiness she had been selected a trial and now would probably get an enforcement notice for parking for the afternoon without paying. Could I go to her car and top up her ticket? I panicked inside; why did she have to do this on my first day? Why me? I told them all to postpone their deliberations, locked them in and went to discuss this with the Chief Usher who was not very pleased. He said she was told clearly to pay for a day's parking, she didn't listen, she was a stupid... then the adjectives turned into something not fit for publication. Oh go on then, take her money, buy her ticket, top her off, it's all the same to me, I've had worse problems, he mumbled.

I went back, unlocked the door, took her to one side, took the appropriate cash and car keys with her permission, made the parking legal again, returned to the Juror's room and told her all was now well. She was now very happy and they all sat down. I took the meal requests to the canteen and an hour later wheeled in the meal trolley. All was well and I locked them back in and took my seat in front of the door to keep them safe and unmolested. I carried on by reading the Guardian and picking at my fingernails. No one would get past me; those Jurors would be so safe in my care.

A couple of hours later they banged on the door and informed me that they had reached a decision. All systems go! I informed the court which resat and the phone call came through to take my jury up. I herded them together and walked them back along the corridors, up the steps and into the lift up to the ante room behind the main courtroom. Prudence made me count them just one more time, nine, ten, eleven... no twelfth person? Oh. One more count, nine, ten, eleven, there was no twelfth person! Where was Juror number twelve? What had I done? How could I have lost a whole person between the jury room and the court? Had this person been kidnapped by a crime mafia to sabotage the trial? I was definitely panicking now: where had I lost this person, thoughts swirled around in my head that I had messed up the whole trial, ruined it, damaged the progression of British justice, all because of my incompetence. My bowels turned to water and my heart to ice. I had been told once that running a Crown Court trial cost thousands of pounds per hour.

I looked sheepishly at the remaining eleven and instructed them to remain in the ante-room and to look after each other. I was supposed to be protecting them, wasn't meant to leave them, but didn't know what else to do. I ran back to the lift, jumped down the steps into the corridor and unlocked the juror's room door and there she was standing. The missing person was the pay and display parking woman. I was so glad to see her. When we all left previously she had nipped into the restroom and been forgotten about and once again she was red faced. I was very glad to return to the ante room with her and take my jurors safely into court to deliver their verdict.

Being called as a Juror is compulsory in England as a statutory duty and going to Court can be stressful for anybody; this woman clearly had more than her fair share of excitement that day. I wish it hadn't been with me though.