Foolish juror who collapsed child sex abuse trial worked at top law firm

29/04/2022

A juror who conducted her own research into a child sex abuse scandal and caused the trial to collapse was a solicitor with decades of experience in the legal sector. Caroline Elizabeth Mitchell, 53, was employed as a senior solicitor at Sheffield-based firm Irwin Mitchell LLP when she was called up for jury duty at York Crown Court in March 2021. Despite having more than 25 years of experience in the profession, she broke the law by carrying out her own research into the trial – and then sharing her findings with fellow jurors.

Jurors are not allowed to carry out their own research into a trial and are warned about this before it starts. But while the trial was still active, Mitchell browsed the property website Rightmove on her iPad at home and decided to see if she could find any information about the house of one of the complainants. : Police issue arrest statement as woman found dead

“You could not, but you found a floor plan of a neighbouring property including its dimensions,” said Judge Kearl QC. “You took a screenshot of those dimensions, retained it overnight and took it (the iPad) to court the following day to show fellow jurors.” The judge said a court clerk saw Mitchell on her iPad while discussing what she had found with fellow jurors the next day. Her actions meant the trial – which related to a string of child sex offences dating back to the 1970s – was thrown out and had to be retried in November last year.

Judge Kearl QC said it came at a cost to the public and meant the defendant and complainant had to “unnecessarily” give evidence to a different jury for a second time. A spokesperson for Irwin Mitchell told YorkshireLive Mitchell left the firm voluntarily before she was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on April 28, 2022.

They said: “Caroline Mitchell is no longer an employee here. She was acting as a juror in a personal capacity and the case did not involve Irwin Mitchell or our clients.”

Mitchell, of North Parade, York, admitted to what she had done during a prepared statement given to the police in May last year. She pleaded guilty to disclosing information to jurors that was not evidence provided in court, under the Juries Act 1974, at the “first possible” opportunity at York Crown Court in December. The 53-year-old was jailed for two months, but will be released on licence after serving four weeks behind bars.

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