www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-2349578529 July 2013 Last updated at 19:47 Share this pageEmailPrint
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Jurors jailed for contempt of court over internet use
Attorney General Dominic Grieve: "Ignoring the judge's instructions is unacceptable behaviour"Continue reading the main story
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Two jurors have each been jailed for two months for contempt of court after one posted a comment on Facebook and the other researched a case online.
Kasim Davey, 21, of London, wrote a strongly-worded Facebook message during the trial of a man for sex offences.
The High Court ruled he and Joseph Beard, 29, who was a juror on a separate fraud trial, "interfered with the administration of justice".
There have been two previous similar prosecutions of jurors.
After the attorney general was given permission to bring the cases earlier this year, Davey and Beard were summoned to the High Court where two judges heard the evidence against them before deciding whether they were guilty.
Strong language
Davey, from Palmers Green, north London, said he had sent the Facebook message last December as a result of "spontaneous surprise at the kind of case I was on".
His posting - containing strong language and an offensive word - suggested he was going to find the defendant guilty, said BBC News home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.
Davey's Facebook post: read: "Woooow I wasn't expecting to be in a jury Deciding a paedophile's fate, I've always wanted to Fuck up a paedophile & now I'm within the law!"
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Every attempt is made to try and warn jurors not to use the internet or social sites for any purpose in relation to the case”
Sir John Thomas
The judge at Wood Green Crown Court was alerted and Davey was discharged. The defendant, Adam Kephalas, was eventually found guilty of sexual activity with a child.
Davey told the High Court he was unaware he had been in breach of a formal order made by the crown court judge. He accepted he was not meant to discuss the case but believed he was only restricted to using the internet to carry out research.
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