Juror faces jail over Facebook contempt case
A juror who used Facebook to contact a defendant during a trial faces up to two years in jail after becoming the first person ever to be prosecuted for contempt of court for using the internet.
Jamie Sewart, left, and Joanne Fraill at the High Court in London today Photo: PA/AFP/GETTY
Joanne Fraill, 40, exchanged a series of messages with Jamie Sewart, 34, while the jury was still deliberating its verdicts.
As a result of their discussions, a complex, multi-million drug trial had to be aborted.
Both women were prosecuted for contempt by Attorney General Dominic Grieve in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.
Fraill, who admitted the charge, shook and prayed throughout the High Court hearing before Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice and two other senior judges.
She sobbed as Lord Judge said there were no circumstances that did not mean "immediate committal."
Sewart, who had denied contempt, was also found guilty although she was told that she would receive a suspended sentence.
Lord Judge was told that the ten-week trial at Manchester Crown Court last August had involved multiple charges and defendants and was one of a series of four trials estimated to have cost £6 million.
It was as the third attempt was nearing its conclusion that it emerged the two women had been communicating.
Sewart, a mother of two from Bolton, had already been acquitted of conspiracy to supply drugs when Fraill looked her up on Facebook but the jury was still deliberating its verdicts for three of her co-defendants.
Peter Wright QC, for Fraill, claimed that she had felt a certain empathy with Sewart and wanted to express her "cathartic relief" at the result, which meant she was freed from jail after 14 months on remand.
She set up a profile using the name Jo Smilie but her own photograph was clearly visible. Sewart admitted that she thought it was a juror but did not think she was doing anything wrong.
Fraill's first message read: "You should know me, I've cried with you enough," referring to the emotions shown by the jury during the trial.
During the course of the ensuing conversation, Sewart asked: "What's happenin with the other charge?"
Fraill replied: "Cant get anywaone to go either no one budging pleeeeee dont say anything cause jamie they could call mmiss trial and I will get 4cked to0.
Ten minutes later she added: "Dont worry about that chge no way it can stay hung for me lol".
The conversations also disclosed that the two women had been communicating in court with "nods and blinks".
The following day, Sewart told her solicitor about the conversation and her computer was seized.
When confronted, Fraill immediately admitted making contact with the defendant and revealing details about the case. She also admitted conducting internet research about Sewart's boyfriend Gary Knox, a co-defendant.
The case was abandoned and a fourth trial subsequently took place to deal with the three remaining defendants.
That trial finished in December but an order was made preventing the details being published until contempt proceedings were brought against Fraill and Sewart.
Mr Wright said that his client, from Blackley, Manchester, was "inconsolable" about what she had done and "terrified" of the prospect of imprisonment.
He said: "Her conduct, though reprehensible, was not calculated or designed by her to subvert the trial process, although it is conceded that that was an inevitable consequence of it.
"She did not impart the product of her researches to any other juror.
"Her researches produced little information, none of which played any part in her deliberations, although we recognise that it was repeated research on the internet."
Both women will learn their fate on Thursday.
Lord Judge told Sewart she would receive a suspended jail term as her own trial had led to her lengthy separation from her baby and it would not be in anybody's interest to "remove the mother from her child again".
Knox, 35, a convicted drug dealer, was jailed for six years after being found guilty of paying off a police officer.
He has since challenged his conviction on the basis of jury misconduct because of the Facebook conversation.
Lord Judge was told that the ten-week trial at Manchester Crown Court last August had involved multiple charges and defendants and was one of a series of four trials estimated to have cost £6 million.
It was as the third attempt was nearing its conclusion that it emerged the two women had been communicating.
Sewart, a mother of two from Bolton, had already been acquitted of conspiracy to supply drugs when Fraill looked her up on Facebook but the jury was still deliberating its verdicts for three of her co-defendants.
Peter Wright QC, for Fraill, claimed that she had felt a certain empathy with Sewart and wanted to express her "cathartic relief" at the result, which meant she was freed from jail after 14 months on remand.
She set up a profile using the name Jo Smilie but her own photograph was clearly visible. Sewart admitted that she thought it was a juror but did not think she was doing anything wrong.
Fraill's first message read: "You should know me, I've cried with you enough," referring to the emotions shown by the jury during the trial.
During the course of the ensuing conversation, Sewart asked: "What's happenin with the other charge?"
Fraill replied: "Cant get anywaone to go either no one budging pleeeeee dont say anything cause jamie they could call mmiss trial and I will get 4cked to0.
Ten minutes later she added: "Dont worry about that chge no way it can stay hung for me lol".
The conversations also disclosed that the two women had been communicating in court with "nods and blinks".
The following day, Sewart told her solicitor about the conversation and her computer was seized.
When confronted, Fraill immediately admitted making contact with the defendant and revealing details about the case. She also admitted conducting internet research about Sewart's boyfriend Gary Knox, a co-defendant.
The case was abandoned and a fourth trial subsequently took place to deal with the three remaining defendants.
That trial finished in December but an order was made preventing the details being published until contempt proceedings were brought against Fraill and Sewart.
Mr Wright said that his client, from Blackley, Manchester, was "inconsolable" about what she had done and "terrified" of the prospect of imprisonment.
He said: "Her conduct, though reprehensible, was not calculated or designed by her to subvert the trial process, although it is conceded that that was an inevitable consequence of it.
"She did not impart the product of her researches to any other juror.
"Her researches produced little information, none of which played any part in her deliberations, although we recognise that it was repeated research on the internet."
Both women will learn their fate on Thursday.
Lord Judge told Sewart she would receive a suspended jail term as her own trial had led to her lengthy separation from her baby and it would not be in anybody's interest to "remove the mother from her child again".
Knox, 35, a convicted drug dealer, was jailed for six years after being found guilty of paying off a police officer.
He has since challenged his conviction on the basis of jury misconduct because of the Facebook conversation.
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