Juror, 56, who researched law on Mumsnet before telling other people on the ... trends now
A juror who had researched the law on Mumsnet and told other members of the jury 'I know we are not supposed to Google, but', has been spared jail.
Suzanne Asquith had been serving on a jury in a child cruelty case in September 2022 when she became 'frustrated' with the other members of the jury during heated deliberations, a court heard.
The 56-year-old foster carer for guide dogs decided to do online research to arm herself for the debates, as the jury deliberated in a case concerning offences of harm to a child and child cruelty.
She had also looked up on the forum site Mumsnet searches about children being taken into care and, separately, information about the defence counsel in the case, the court heard.
Another member of the jury subsequently became concerned with Asquith's 'bullying attitude', Reading Crown Court heard on Thursday.
Matthew Knight, prosecuting, said: 'The juror noted Ms Asquith had made some comments about having found something out or words to the effect, 'I know we are not supposed to Google but'.'
Juror Suzanne Asquith searched up a law on Mumsnet while serving in a case at Reading Crown Court (pictured), but was spared a prison sentence
Police had later arrested Asquith and examined her devices. They discovered search terms such as the word 'cretin', 'how do jurors reach a verdict?', 'does a jury have to be unanimous?' and information about the defence counsel in the case.
Mr Knight added: 'There was no direct searching for that case or those within it. How that impacted on deliberations, no one can really say.'
The court heard the 11 jurors had reached a majority decision the defendants should be cleared of two charges they faced, with Asquith being the sole juror feeling the defendants were guilty.
Verdicts could not be
