31/08/2006
The Law Society "Law Gazette" has this week reported on a Manchester trial in which the jury was discharged with the judge ordering a retrial after a solicitor overheard a juror talking about the case on a train. Farrhat Arshad was counsel for the defendant and is quoted in the article.
A solicitor not connected to the case, Lindsay Bartling, of Maidments solicitors in Manchester, overheard a member of the jury openly discussing the opinion of the jury on a mobile telephone in a train carriage full of commuters. She worked out which case was being referred to and notified the solicitors concerned.
"Mr Pritchard [of Robert Lizars solicitors, Manchester, solicitor for one of the defendant] promptly rang counsel, Farrhat Arshad of Garden Court North. She urged him to summon Ms Bartling to the court without delay. Ms Arshad said: 'This was so serious that we knew the judge would insist on hearing directly from Lindsey Bartling herself, rather than relying simply on hearsay'."
> To read the full article, click here .