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The first criminal trial in England to take place without a jury has been given the go-ahead to combat the threat of jurors being “nobbled”.
In a historic decision three Appeal Court judges ordered the move in the trial of four men accused of a £1.75 million Heathrow robbery in 2004.
The case has already come before three different juries and cost the taxpayer an estimated £24 million — 14 times more than the robbers' haul.
One of the key tenets of British justice is a defendant's right to trial by a jury of 12 men and women.
Throughout legal history judges have refused to consider anything that would jeopardise this fundamental right.
But the Appeal Court was told that if a new jury was sworn in for a new six-month trial of the
Heathrow case they would require 24-hour protection involving 82 police officers and
costing a further £6 million.
A second suggestion was put forward of lesser protection costing £1.5 million and requiring
32 officers.
But the judges ruled that the threat of jury tampering was so great that even such protective
measures “would be quite unacceptable”.
“The danger of jury tampering and the subversion of the process of trial is very significant,”
said the Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, sitting with Lord Justice Golding and Mr Justice McCombe.
“But in our judgment these protective measures do not sufficiently address the extent of the risk... nor sufficiently address the potential problem of interference with jurors through their families.”
Later the judges lifted restrictions on naming the four defendants who will face trial without a jury.
They are: Peter Blake, of Westbourne Park, John Twomey, of New Milton, Hampshire, Barry Hibberd, of Goldhawk Road, and Glen Cameron , of New Milton.
The charges in the case include robbery, conspiracy to rob and possession of firearms with
intent to endanger lives. The raid was carried out in February 2004 at a warehouse at Heathrow
Airport by armed and masked raiders.
They aimed to take £10 million in sterling and foreign currencies but were only able to
find £1.75 which mostly remains unrecovered.
Trials without jury have taken place elsewhere in Britain. The trial of the Libyan intelligence
agents accused of carrying out the 1988 Lockerbie bombing was held in the Netherlands but
presided over by a panel of Scottish judges.
More controversially “Diplock” courts were introduced in Northern Ireland in 1972 on the
recommendation of a senior English judge to allow alleged terrorists to go on trial as an
alternative to internment.
A single judge heard evidence but they were hugely controversial with accusations from
Nationalists that they were institutionally
anti-Catholic. They were abolished in 2007.
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