Phone-hacking judge: 'Not just defendants on trial, British justice is on trial'
The trial of R v Rebekah Brooks and others took an important step forward today as a jury of three men and nine women was selected and sworn in.
The Old Bailey
The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, instructed the jury that it was a central principle that cases are decided only on the evidence given in court, and remarked that given the pre-trial publicity it was “not just the defendants on trial, British justice is on trial”.
Mr Justice Saunders described the defendants in the case as “well-known public figures” and the volume of pre-trial publicity as “unprecedented”. He instructed the jury to put anything they heard out of their minds and rely on what they heard in court as this evidence could be properly examined and tested. The judge described much of what could be found on the case on social media as “fuelled by speculation” and much of the comments on websites about the defendants as “offensive and demeaning”.
Saunders also told the jury that this week's issue of the magazine Private Eye had “seen fit” to place a picture of Mrs Brooks on its front page. He instructed the jury that it was “meant to be satirical, but you ignore it, it’s not relevant” adding, it’s "a joke in especially bad taste”.
Turning again to social media, the judge advised the jury that “public figures and well known actors send tweets” sometimes on “topics on which they know very little”. And while he hoped this did not happen during the trial, this may be breaking the law and “action may be taken”. Mr Saunders also advised the jury that websites based abroad were “very difficult to legislate” and instructed the jury members not to read them.
The judge told the jury he was not instructing them not to use Facebook and Twitter as these were “important means of communications”, but he was asking them to consider it. If they did come across comment on the trial they should ignore it, he said, before adding: “It’s the verdict of you 12 and only you 12 we want at the end of the trial.” If they came across comments of information accidentally they had “done nothing wrong” and should put it out of their mind. If they could not do so they were to inform the court bailiff who would inform the judge.
Mr Justice Saunders then told the jury that these directions were vital if the trial was to be fair, and cautioned them that in past cases where jurors had ignored these directions they had been prosecuted and sent to prison.
Finally, Saunders told the jury that there would be times they would be out of the court while legal issues were decided, so they should bring a good book. He then allowed the jury to leave until 2pm tomorrow when the prosecution will formally open the trial.
The defendants deny all charges, the trial continues.