Facebook juror told to expect jail term

The first juror to be prosecuted for contacting a defendant on Facebook has been told to expect a jail sentence after admitting contempt of court.

Joanne Fraill, 40, contacted 34-year-old female defendant Jamie Sewart during a multimillion-pound drug trial in Manchester last August.

The juror exchanged messages with Sewart after she had been acquitted, but while the jury were still deliberating on other defendants in the case.

Read more: What does contempt of court mean in the internet age?

Fraill also researched the defendants on the internet despite strict instructions from the trial judge not to do so.

It emerged that Sewart had also committed contempt of court by asking Fraill for details of the jury’s deliberations in relation to a charge they were still considering.

Fraill admitted being in contempt of court, while Sewart denied the charge but the case against her was found to be proved following a High Court hearing.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, sitting with two other senior judges at the court in central London, was told that the original trial was one of four linked trials estimated to have cost £6 million, and had run for 10 weeks.

But the judge was forced to halt the trial, discharge the jury and begin again after the Facebook exchanges between Fraill and Sewart were revealed.

The women are expected to be sentenced later this week.

Fraill, who had been “distraught” throughout the hearing, sobbed as the judge told her the court did not think there were any circumstances in which she could avoid an immediate jail sentence.

Lord Judge told Sewart she would receive a suspended jail order, saying the previous trial meant she had endured a lengthy separation from her baby and it would not be in anyone’s interests to separate mother and child again

She told reporters later: “I’m happy with a suspended sentence and just want to get home.

“I regret everything. She (Fraill) contacted me. My mind was in a whirlwind. I had just been acquitted. When I sat back and thought about it I realised I should report it and I did.”

The same judges are now due to hear an appeal by one of Sewart’s co-defendants, convicted drug dealer Gary Knox.

He is challenging his conviction on the basis of alleged jury misconduct.

Knox, 35, was jailed for six years for conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. He was convicted of buying sensitive information on drug dealers from police officers in return for a £20,000 BMW and Premier League match tickets.

The police officer who received the gifts, 44-year-old Phil Berry, 44, admitted the same charge and was jailed for four years.

Earlier this year, Lord Judge made history when he allowed the use of Twitter in the reporting of some court cases for the first time.

Is trial by jury appropriate in the internet age? Watch the Channel 4 News debate below.