Hijab-wearing Juror accused of listening to Ipod
Case discontinued by the prosecutionLead Lawyer
Case study summary
Our client's case attracted significant press interest when she was referred to the Attorney-General for prosecution having been accused of listening to an MP3 player under her hijab while sitting as a juror in a murder trial. The case generated a media circus.
Case study
Any criminal lawyer can claim to have expertise in different types of criminal case. We have included here a case study to give some idea of how we prepare our cases. Our client was the alleged Hijab MP3 Juror, a young Muslim student, who was accused of listening to her MP3 player under her headscarf while a juror on a murder trial. She had been dismissed from the jury by the judge, and he referred the case to the Attorney General to prosecute her for contempt of court. The tabloids, and even the BBC, seized upon this case as a major racial issue, which it clearly was not.
Even the prosecution junior barrister from the murder trial made irresponsible and innappropriate comment to the press, adding to this young girl’s problems in achieving a fair trial.
In fact, our client could show that her MP3 player was unplugged, and that she had simply had the earphones in because taking off her headscarf to remove them was difficult and time-consuming.
We refused to advise a plea of guilty and thoroughly prepared her defence.
During the journeys to court, we prepared decoys and alternative entries and exits for our client so that she evaded the media circus waiting for her.
After pre-trial issues with the defence, the prosecution dropped the case against our client before it reached trial.
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