Murder Trial halted because of Glastonbury

[Lordscopie]

The story has been covered in a couple of papers this morning:

Murder trial postponed so juror can go to Glastonbury

Monday, June 08, 2009, 13:49

By Aline Nassif

aline.nassif@essnmedia.co.uk

A murder trial was postponed today (Monday) because one of the jurors had tickets to the Glastonbury Festival.

A jury had begun to hear the case against Steven Braithwaite, 31, who is accused of stabbing 17-year-old Nilanthan Murddi to death in West Croydon last year.

But the trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court was dramatically abandoned when it emerged the juror had already booked tickets to the music festival.

Judge David Radford said he would have not allowed the trial to start if he had realised the juror intended to spend six days camping at Glastonbury.

He told the juror: "If you had elaborated a bit more on what going to Glastonbury entailed I would have stood you down this morning.

"This is essentially a pre-booked holiday and you have organised to go with friends."

Mr Braithwaite, of no fixed address, denies murder.

Nilanthan, from Warbank Crescent, New Addington, was stabbed in the neck in Sumner Road in the early hours of August 16 last year.

A new jury will now have to be sworn in before the trial can go ahead, probably on Wednesday.

http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/latest...il/article.html

[glastofreak]

Fancy not knowing when Glastonbury is? The only reason not to have told the courts when called for jury service

[tris]

Judge David Radford said he would have not allowed the trial to start if he had realised the juror intended to spend six days camping at Glastonbury.

He told the juror: "If you had elaborated a bit more on what going to Glastonbury entailed I would have stood you down this morning.

A new jury will now have to be sworn in before the trial can go ahead, probably on Wednesday.

http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/latest...il/article.html

[yasgursfarmhand]

This story is causing fractures in my brain machine. Surely a murder trial is more important than a festival. But something in my head keeps repeating "but it's Glastonbury" over and over again.

I need a lie down.

[Lordscopie]

This story is causing fractures in my brain machine. Surely a murder trial is more important than a festival. But something in my head keeps repeating "but it's Glastonbury" over and over again.

I need a lie down.

[r0cky]

This story is causing fractures in my brain machine. Surely a murder trial is more important than a festival.

[Curtains1]

Awesome.

[Kaybee]

My thinking would be that the juror put "going to Glastonbury" as their holiday commitment, and the Courts Service people will have thought "festival = weekend" and that it therefore wouldn't be a problem. The comment about them not realising it was six days of camping would bear that out....

[FunkyDenz]

It looks like the juror stated that they were going to Glastonbury, and the judge thought that they meant a weekend away, not 6 days camping.

[scorp]

There's more in the [whisper it, lol] daily mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...y-Festival.html

...here it is with readers' comments @ the end

Judge postpones murder trial after juror reveals plans to attend Glastonbury

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 10:07 AM on 09th June 2009

A murder trial has been postponed by a judge because one of the jurors had a Glastonbury ticket.

The case was halted midway through the prosecution's opening speech at a cost of thousands of pounds to the taxpayer after the judge had a change of heart about releasing the juror.

Judge David Radford had earlier ignored the juror's plea to be excused, but relented when he heard the full extent of his festival plans, which he said amounted to a pre-booked holiday.

juror released from murder trial because he had glastonbury tickets

Delight: Judge David Radford excused a juror from a murder trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court because he had a £200 ticket for the Glastonbury Festival (pictured)

The trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court is expected to last for up to three weeks, meaning the man would have had to forfeit his pre-booked ticket.

The juror pleaded his case with Judge Radford before the start of the trial yesterday, but was told it was not a good enough reason to avoid being on the panel.

However during the lunch break and part-way through prosecutor Christopher Kinch QC's case, he changed his mind when he learned what the juror would be missing.

The festival is due to being on June 24 and the jury member had a full ticket lasting until the music stops on the following Monday.

judge releases juror from murder trial because he had a glastonbury ticket

Forfeit: The judge had a change of heart after hearing the juror had booked to attend the festival with friends and would be unable to sell his ticket

Glastonbury tickets cost nearly £200 and in a bid to tackle touts, festival organisers require revellers to show photo ID, making them non-transferable.

Judge Radford told the juror, who was nodding with delight: 'If you had elaborated a bit more on what going to Glastonbury entailed I would have stood you down this morning.

'I think you perhaps pre-supposed a bit too much knowledge on my part.

'This is essentially a pre-booked holiday, and you have organised to go with friends.

'A new jury will be sworn in on Wednesday morning allowing the trial to begin.'

murder trial postponed at Snaresbrook Crown Court because juror had Glastonbury ticket

Postponed: A new jury will be sworn in at Snaresbrook Crown Court tomorrow

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

* Newest

* Oldest

* Best rated

* Worst rated

PLEASE don't call it Glastonbury, it is in a village called PILTON about 7 miles or so away from the town and very misleading to people from afar! Locals call it Pilton not Glastonbury! the latter is a lovely ex market town in south WEst countryside with abbey ruins etc

- angie whitcombe, dobrich bg, 09/6/2009 09:50

Click to rate Rating 5

Report abuse

That's the Judges fault not the juror. Glasto is a pre-booked event which costs a lot of money and is non transferrable or saleable. He should have understood the situation before his initial view.

- Kate, Bristol, 09/6/2009 09:49

Click to rate Rating 4

Report abuse

cant really blame him. this would have been awful for the poor juror if he'd had to miss it. judge should have asked a bit more about whether theevent counted as a prebooked holiday before sayign no in the first place and then they guy wouldnt have had to b released later

- g macadam, scotland, 09/6/2009 09:48

Click to rate Rating 2

Report abuse

A good decision. why should someone lose the ticket money & short holiday just because their forced against their will to do jury service?

- Peter, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 09/6/2009 09:46

Click to rate Rating 2

Report abuse

fancy a judge not knowing what Glastonbury is , now if he had said he was going to La Scala it would have been a different story.

- andy wilson, leicester england, 09/6/2009 09:46

Click to rate Rating 1

Report abuse

This borders on the ridiculous. There might be a case for giving the individual a refund of his outlays but otherwise it is a total nonsense.

What about the inconvenience to the other jurors let alone all those involved in prosecuting or defending the case?

Glstonbury is hardly an event of any real importance nor a life threatening situation

- alan, Ludlow, 09/6/2009 09:45

Click to rate Rating 2

Report abuse

[yasgursfarmhand]

Yep, I get it now. Judge thinks Glasto is a weekender, doesn't realise that now it is really a week's holiday for most of us. Fairplay to the beak for seeing sense. And also to the Mail for not going for the obvious outrage angle, which would've been predictable.

[glasto_mongrel_2008]

This borders on the ridiculous. There might be a case for giving the individual a refund of his outlays but otherwise it is a total nonsense.

What about the inconvenience to the other jurors let alone all those involved in prosecuting or defending the case?

Glstonbury is hardly an event of any real importance nor a life threatening situation

- alan, Ludlow, 09/6/2009 09:45

Click to rate Rating 2

Report abuse

[r0cky]

Would it be acceptable to sign up for the d a i l y m a i l forum just to give this guy some shit? He sounds a right c**t! f**king arsehole!

[Woppa]

No. It's just not acceptable.

You could do what I did and sign up a mate's name to give him hassle though.

[glasto_mongrel_2008]

No. It's just not acceptable.

You could do what I did and sign up a mate's name to give him hassle though.

[Woppa]

Hope you cleaned up afterwards.

[budvar]

I saw this story on my commute this mornign and it made me smile (not the murder part).

Good to see a Judge recognising the importance of Glastonbury. In my mind this means a legal precedent has been set and leave for Glastonbury can now not be refused!

[Felna]

Just about sums up the Daily Mail reader, there's a story about a murder trial being halted, probably at more cost than it would have caused if they'd just given him £200 loss expenses.

Yet does the first commentator say about this?

PLEASE don't call it Glastonbury, it is in a village called PILTON about 7 miles or so away from the town and very misleading to people from afar! Locals call it Pilton not Glastonbury! the latter is a lovely ex market town in south WEst countryside with abbey ruins etc

- angie whitcombe, dobrich bg, 09/6/2009 09:50

Click to rate Rating 5

[abu hamster]

How do you confuse a Daily Mail reader?

Tell them illegal immegrants eat the unemployed

[scorp]

Don't do it. The comments you get on the d a i l y m a i l are a million times worse than the articles themselves. I've made the mistake of reading them, I get so riled!!

But, I sometimes rate peoples comments, make sure the ones I object to get negatived etc.

[Frenchie1973]

Glstonbury is hardly an event of any real importance nor a life threatening situation

- alan, Ludlow, 09/6/2009 09:45

[r0cky]

what do you get when you marry a daily mail reader with a daily telegraph reader?

http://www.crystalinks.com/sloth.html

[tazzyb]

I saw this story on my commute this mornign and it made me smile (not the murder part).

Good to see a Judge recognising the importance of Glastonbury. In my mind this means a legal precedent has been set and leave for Glastonbury can now not be refused!

[tazzyb]

sorry double post.

Edited June 9, 2009 by tazzyb