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

I was called back in the 70s but as I was teaching in the local prison at the time I was excused. I've never been called again. My DH was called and said it was just a lot of hanging around.

I've been called twice. The first time, about ten years ago, I never actually got onto a jury. The second time, about three years ago, the case lasted about two weeks. It was a rape case. The defendant was found guilty. I was left with the impression of the utter bleakness of both the defendant's and victim's lives. But I thought all the jurors took the trial seriously and did their best to find the right verdict.

I was caked 30 years ago but was excused as I was a single parent and would have struggled to get my children looked after. I would have quite liked to do it at the time, but now I hate the idea. I know how I struggle to concentrate and I worry that I would miss an important point in the proceedings.

Called not caked ??

I was called a few years ago. There was a lot of hanging around for a couple of days so I took along my needlepoint project. We finally got a case so I was very pleased. The whole process was very interesting. Some of the jury members got very upset when we all voted guilty. Some ladies were in tears.
My 18 year old son was also called for jury service. I made him watch the old black & white film with Henry Fonda 12 Angry Men and told him if at all possible to volunteer to be the foreman of the jury. He found the whole experience very educational, he was foreman and persuaded his jury to vote not guilty (it was a very minor offence). The interesting thing was that when my son started his post graduate MBA course at Harvard in Boston the first thing they were shown was the film 12 Angry Men. He was in a class full of young Americans and he was an Englishman who knew all about the film.

DH got a call for when we would have been on our honeymoon!! But he found he was bafred from doing it anyway as his Mum worked in the Court. Also applied to me. If I was called now, I hope I would be excused anyway as I am primary carer for a disabled family member.

I did jury service in 2018 at Southwark Crown Court, often seen on TV. It was a case of selling counterfeit goods and was thrown out for legal reasons. At least I can now recognise a counterfeit Liverpool football shirt.
The other members of the jury were lovely - all years younger than me, and we had a convivial drink when the case was dismissed. Not your usual jury experience!

I have only been called once and was selected (numbers in a bowl) for a murder trial (retrial actually) that lasted 3 months!
I started off feeling excited, I'm a true crime buff.
It was tedious. The new evidence was so very technical, medical stuff that unless you are medically trained you had zero chance of understanding!
That went on for a full week.
As well as killing the poor man he had defrauded him. They listed every single transaction......
Tedious as I said.
I felt our final decision was rushed, it was a Friday afternoon and two of the jurors had weekends away/events planned!
We found him guilty for a second time.

Our food was served to us in a room next to the jurors room. We got to pick the day before. Nice grub!
We were escorted outside for a cigarette by a court bailiff to ensure we weren't discussing the case outside or on our phones to anyone else.
Then we were all excused for 10 years.
Thats almost up now.
Who knows, I may be called again.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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 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....

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?

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 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.

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.