Sexual assault trial in Sheffield collapses after juror falls asleep | UK criminal justice

A sexual assault trial in Sheffield has collapsed after a member of the jury fell asleep and missed “important evidence”, it has been reported.

The judge said the situation was astonishing, after he was told that another juror had been unable to hear the complainant giving evidence because of tinnitus.

A third juror had to be sent home from the trial at Sheffield crown court after falling ill with an infectious disease, the BBC reported.

Judge Richardson KC ordered that the defendant should face a retrial. He said: “Too much has gone wrong in this case. We really must start again and do it properly.

“It’s astonishing that firstly one juror should fall asleep during an important trial and secondly that another juror should have, late in the day, reported to the court that he had not heard material portions of the evidence.”

Several people had noticed the juror had been falling asleep during the trial and the judge said it had been established that the juror missed “important evidence”.

The juror with tinnitus, an ear disorder, had only revealed he was unable to hear the evidence from earlier in the trial at a late stage, leading to him being excluded from the trial.

It emerged on Monday, after the remaining 10 jurors had retired to consider their verdict on Friday, that the third juror had a highly infectious illness and would also have to be discharged.

Although it was legally possible for the case to proceed with just nine jurors, the judge agreed to dismiss the jury. Richardson: “I do so with a very, very heavy heart – but the fairness of these proceedings is sacrosanct.”

The defendant may face a retrial with a new jury next year.