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Juror Matthew Banks jailed for seeing West End show | |
(40 minutes later) | |
A juror who pretended he was sick so he could go to a West End musical, has been jailed for two weeks. | A juror who pretended he was sick so he could go to a West End musical, has been jailed for two weeks. |
Matthew Banks, 19, told officials at Manchester Crown Court he was ill, but he had actually gone to London to watch Chicago. | |
The trial was halted for a day as other jurors were sent home. | |
Judge Martin Rudland labelled the student "frivolous" and ordered he served a 14-day sentence at a Young Offenders' Institution. | |
Judge Rudland said he was jailing Banks, who could spend Christmas in prison, for contempt of court "with a heavy heart". However, the judge said that lying to court officials for such a frivolous reason was a serious offence. | |
The week-long trial, which Banks had been sitting on, later continued in his absence with the remaining 11 jurors reaching a verdict, Judicial Communications Office officials said. |