Has anyone done Jury service and how did you find it?

Agree fevertree, my experience exactly. I was a juror on an serious assault case. Two jurors obviously had not listened to the evidence. They wanted to give the accused another chance at any cost. Accused was found guilty and was already serving a sentence for a similar offence.

I also did jury duty at the Old Bailey. It was incredibly boring for most of the time as I was a back up, so for the first 4 days I had to go in and sit in the waiting area. Finally called up but the case was thrown out by the judge after 3 days! The best part was chatting to some of the others waiting - 14 of us I seem to remember. It was nearly 12 years ago now. Interesting eclectic mix of people with a vast array of stories to tell.
When the case eventually came up none of us on the jury could understand why it was being heard at the Old Bailey as it was a pretty minor offense. Hope to be called up again though. Could be more interesting next time.

I'm a retired magistrate who sat not only on criminal cases but in the family court and at the Crown Court on appeals. I was called for jury service soon after I was appointed, but in those days, magistrates were not allowed tosit on juries. Now they can, but I have nevet been called again. However, it is not something I would ever recommend, and I would never wish to serve. You never know whether you will be needed, or for how long. There's an awful lot of noring sitting around, when you could be doing something useful. You may get an open-and-shut case, or you may get one that drags on for weeks. You may get a murder trial with harrowing evidence that could haunt you ever after, or a case which is so complicated that it is beyond the wit of a legally-untrained mind. No, stick to watching crime documentaries on tv!

I did Jury Service a few years ago. It was very interesting but we never got to reach a decision after listening to evidence for over a week, as the Judge was taken ill and we were dismissed!

I am waiting for a letter from my GP to be excused after having been called six times! I have served twice, been excused when my son was newly born, and five years later when he was starting school, and excused two years ago on medical grounds. We all got letters asking for our availability a number of years ago, and son and I ignored it ( Letter? What letter?)
The law-abiding Bodach replied and was called a few weeks later. From the citation I’ve just received it says the cases will be heard remotely, social distancing will be observed etc, and, when I called to ask how to be excused, was told jurors will probably be in a city centre cinema!
Like Fevertree, I was horrified by the attitude of some of my fellow jurors, and just hope I’m never on trial!

I was called a few years ago but I was mid- chemo treatment at the time so was excused. I was given a new date very quickly. The trial lasted 6 weeks and was harrowing at times. But I met a great bunch of people. We all returned to the court for sentencing - the judge was amazed to see all 12, said he had never seen that before, and thanked us for reaching the decision we had. Out of the 12, 6 of us still meet several times a year for dinner and one is a new BFF. Was an experience I wouldnt have missed

Thank you for your views. Yes Tempest I would also recommend the film 12 Angry Men which has been used over the years for training purposes to help people to see how to interact and put across their views whilst also listening to other's views. A brilliant film!

I served three times, some time ago. The most memorable case was a dangerous driving one and the Judge announced that the Prosecution, after a review, had decided not to proceed. The Judge asked if one member of the Jury could stand out and give a 'not guilty' verdict. I was on my feet within a second. It had been a boring case.

Yes I served as a juror about fifteen years ago, I was called again soon after but due to work commitments was allowed not to do it.
I quite enjoyed the experience and meeting the other jurors. The one case was not very serious, of common assault and the person was found guilty.
However I do remember a lot of waiting around to be called. We were given coupons for lunch/tea for the canteen and were paid a small allowance which was much less than salary.
It was a duty I was pleased to fulfil but would not want to do it now.

I have done it twice and loved it. I really liked being on different juries and getting to know lots of new people. I was at two different crown courts but would have loved to have done the Old Bailey. On the whole I was impressed at how seriously people took it though there were a couple of people with appalling attitudes on the juries I was on including one woman who refused to give any reason for her not guilty vote (“I don’t wish to discuss it”)! I would love to be a juror again.

In the two cases I was on, some of the jurors were trying to hurry it up so that they could go home. That made me feel uncomfortable. These are people's lives at the end if the day.

I have been called 3 times. The latest were found guilty. The first one we found them innocent, then they listed all their previous, bit of a gulp moment.
I am beginning to think with the amount of research by the CPS, only guilty people are put to trial, or maybe I've been watching too much TV?

I did it about 10 years ago. It was a fairly disturbing case which went on for longer than anticipated which was inconvenient as it was at a a busy time of year (I am self employed). But I was left feeling humbled by & proud of our justice system, even though I wondered how a barrister could represent somebody they might have thought was guilty....

DH has done this twice but mostly a waste of time as they were called and then sent away several times during the period and then discharged altogether. On top of this he was out of pocket as they wouldn't pay parking at the nearest carpark as it was too expensive but he was unable to walk the distance from the recommended one. My brother was also called and said he was disgusted at the attitude of some jurors who outright said that they would just go along with whatever the others decided!

I was a little worried the large table in the jury room was solid mahogany but none of the others was interested.

In court I tried to catch the jury official's attention but he was not paying attention until the judge told him I was trying to speak to him. I said I could not hear what the lawyer was saying as he was mumbling. The judge told the lawyer to speak louder and the lawyer gave me a sheepish smile.

My OH spent two weeks kicking his heels but wasn’t called. He was later told probably because he was wearing a suit (in case an evening job came up) and he was carrying a copy of the daily mail. He had to give work away so was severely out of pocket. Not sure there is a foolproof way.

A friend was on a jury that acquitted a baby faced man of a sexual assault and the judge harangued them. He presumably knew the man’s previous history of offences but the jury didn’t. She was very upset. Most crimes like this don’t take place in front of reliable witnesses.

Another friend had been in the police before she was married and was horrified to realise that her jury service coincided with the trial of a local crime boss! Fortunately she wasn’t picked but she had been seriously frightened which was very unlike her.

I’ve never been called. It’s on my list of ‘Things to do Before I Die’

I received a letter at the beginning of the year for jury duty but was then told I don’t qualify because I haven’t lived in the UK for 5 years or more. I was so relieved!

I have not but my daughter has. She was very young at the time. Both trials were murders.
She was so upset after the first one she was excused half way through the second one. She still remembers all details of the cases and although the defendant was found guilty she had great pity for him as the circumstances were very sad.

I have never been called. My husband was called for a big 'gangland' case at the Old Bailey many years ago, that lasted several months. It got really scary when he realised he had been followed home one day, as had a couple of other jurors. We had plain clothes policemen outside our house for the rest of the trial, and our children were escorted to and from school every day - they were unaware of that. At the end all the jurors were given lifetime exemptions.

Called once just after I had broken my shoulder and had a complicated op, so staggered along and got chatting to all sorts of people. We all got quite friendly over the next few days. Eventually I was called to a case where somebody had stolen an old lady's handbag. She was magnificent in the witness box and we convicted. Do I want to be called again, no.

Only once - about 30 years ago. Quite interesting case (attempted murder). For the record we unanimously found him not guilty of murder but guilty of common assault. The judge thanked us and said that in his opinion it was “a very sensible verdict”.

I was called to the Old Bailey. Started hearing a case about some altercation between a couple of Greek Cypriots from North London. It was very hard to follow - no language problem, just lots of confusing statements being made. I was just beginning to feel I'd have to put my hand up and say 'Sorry, but I haven't understood any of this so far' when the trial was stopped on some legal technicality and we were sent home.
My only other experience at a court was being called as a witness to a traffic accident. I answered the questions and was thanked politely. The eventual verdict made it quite clear that I was considered to have been lying.

I was called a few years ago but did not do it as my disabled son needed a lot of help at the time. My mother was called a year or so later but was the main carer for my grandmother so again did not serve. A friend did it in a different part of the country and said it was three of the most mind-numbing weeks of her life. It was a case involving foreign workers and three of them were illiterate in their own language never mind English.