Retrial for death-crash case couple

The Court of Appeal held that at least one member of the jury which convicted Mary Butres and John Nichols might have been biased.

A woman juror had been overheard on a tram discussing the ongoing case with a fellow juror, and over her mobile phone with her husband, and saying: "He's as guilty as hell".

The juror had shown "flagrant disregard" and "something approaching contempt" for the strict warning given to juries that they must not discuss a case among themselves or with others, said Lady Justice Hallett.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Keith and the Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe QC, quashed the convictions and granted bail pending retrial at a venue yet to be fixed.

The couple who died in the tragedy on the A1 near Great Ponton, Lincolnshire, on the evening of May 12 2007 were Mark Crompton, 20, and his girlfriend Jodie Brown, 19, of Swinstead, Lincs. Her brother Nick, 36, was seriously injured.

They were on the central reservation near their crashed Ford Fiesta, which had aquaplaned on standing water, when they were hit by a Jaguar driven by Butres with the car's owner, Nichols, sitting next to her.

Butres, 47, of Stamford, Lincs, was jailed for nine years and Nichols, 57, from Carlby, for five years at Nottingham Crown Court last November. She was banned from driving for seven years and Nichols was banned for five years.

When told about the juror's behaviour, the trial judge, Recorder Greg Dickinson QC, issued a stern warning to the jury and allowed the case to continue.

Lady Justice Hallett said there should have been at least "some gentle testing of the juror concerned" to ascertain whether she was able to put her prejudices to one side. If she was found to have a closed mind, she could have been discharged from the jury.