North Devon demonstrators take their cause to court

On Monday (December 4) people from North Devon joined hundreds of others around the country in holding signs outside Exeter Crown Court, as part of a growing public campaign called Defend Our Juries.

Their signs displayed the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, ie the right of all jurors in British courtrooms to acquit a defendant according to their conscience and irrespective of the directions of the judge.

The group from North Devon and Torridge includes retired teachers, social workers engineers, ecologists, museum curators and those still working in nursing and teaching.

Steve Jarvis, a retired primary school teacher and plumber from North Devon said: “Six of us from Northern Devon sat outside Exeter Crown Court along with two dozen others in solidarity with those already arrested and even jailed for holding up a sign with the words engraved in stone at the Old Bailey about jury rights.

“We sat in the rain for an hour with our placards with the same words as those arrested. It felt good to be part of a movement challenging those judges who are corrupting jury trials with unreasonable restrictions and directing juries rather than allowing them to make up their own minds.”

But by displaying these signs, the group runs the risk of arrest. In September, the Solicitor General announced he would prosecute the 68-year-old retired social worker, Trudi Warner, for contempt of court, for holding a similar sign outside Inner London Crown Court in March. Then in October, two young women were arrested by the MET police for doing the same thing.

Just days after the Solicitor General’s announcement to prosecute Warner, 252 people gathered outside 25 crown courts across England and Wales, holding similar signs in solidarity with Trudi Warner. None were arrested and there has been no indication of a police investigation since then.

Jill Apperly, a retired lecturer from North Devon added: “This is such an important action with far reaching consequences for all of us. We have to believe that our system of justice is exactly that, just and fair for everyone. But now people are at risk of arrest simply for holding a placard.

“We must fight for the right of jurors to vote according to their conscience; yet the government are trying to stop our juries from hearing the full truth. This is an outrage against justice. It's time to make our voices heard.”

The demonstrations come amid mounting public concern that political trials, such as the trial over the toppling of the statue of the slave-trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour, are being turned into show trials, after a succession of jury acquittals, including the acquittal of the Colston 4 in January 2022, have embarrassed the Government and certain corporate interests.

In the Colston case, Suella Braverman, who was Attorney General at the time, decided that the jury of Bristol people had got it wrong, and brought a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal, changing the law.

They say measures being taken by courts in response include defendants being banned from explaining to the jury why they did what they did, even people who have taken peaceful direct action are now being sent to prison for up to three years.