Well, what a day!
It was utterly ghastly. I was up at 7am and caught the 7.50 am bus to Burnley. I didn't have to be at court until 9.30am but the bus to Burnley was only once an hour so it was either catch the 7.50am bus to arrive in Burnley at 8.20am or catch the 8.50am bus to arrive in Burnley at 9.20am.
I went for the earlier one to allow for some wandering about getting lost time as I don't know Burnley and I got to court at 8.45am.
I sat on my own in the jury room at court until about 9.15am when the others started to arrive. There were 30 of us by 9.30am.
At about 10am the court usher came into the room and proceeded to take us through the jury dos and don'ts and we were shown round a court room. This bit was very interesting and we learnt who sits where in a court room and we got to sit in the jury area.
We were then taken back to the jury room and shown a video about what being a juror entails.
We were talked at all morning until 12 noon which was quite draining. There was one juror who kept nodding off and snoring like a train, very annoying and God only knows what he'd be like on a trial, he couldn't stay awake for 10 mins at a time.
At 12 noon, 30 people were whittled down to 18. Twelve were sent home, told they wouldn't be needed tomorrow and to ring court at 4pm tomorrow to see if they would be required on Wednesday. I was one of the 18 who stayed on.
Lunch was from 1pm until 2.15pm and we were issued with a smart card with £5.27 credit (what a strange amount) on it to buy our lunch in the canteen. The jurors have a separate canteen. It was very small and the selection was abysmal. There were about 6 plastic sandwiches to choose from or we could have pastie or steak pudding and chips....urgh. If I'd eaten that I'd have been snoring away like that fella.
Luckily there were some lovely people and I met a few like minded folk to go for a fag with. Here lies the funny thing. They give jurors a separate canteen to keep them apart from the defendants but when you go outside for a fag there's no separation, you could be standing next to anybody!
At 2.15pm we went back to the jury room and were told that there was to be a trial in the afternoon. The barristers were just debating some points of law and then a jury would be sworn in. We sat in that little room, with that fella snoring his head off, from 2.15pm until 4.30pm. It was like being in the Doctor's waiting room for 2 hours. For 2 hours we sat there like cheese at fourpence and then the usher came to tell us that the three lads on trial has just pleading guilty to drugs offences and therefore there would be no need for a trial.
We were free to leave, we will not be needed tomorrow and we have to ring to see if we will be needed on Wednesday, just like the others. I had just missed the 4.20pm bus so I walked with another juror from Accrington to the bus station to see what time the next one was.....not until 5.40pm as it turned out. We were totally fed up by this point so she, who knew Burnley much better then me, suggested we go to the train station. We ended up getting on a train at 5pm and arrived back in Accrington at 5.20pm. Luckily my hubby had just finished work at this point so he picked me up in Accy and I was home for 5.40pm, the same time as I would have been getting on the bus in Burnley if I'd waited for that.
God, I thought that this jury malarky was going to be so exciting. I suppose it is if you actually get to sit on a trial but the waiting around is horrendous if you don't. Thank God I had my mum helping me out with childcare as I don't know what I would have done otherwise. Who else can you ask to pick your kids up from school when you can't even say what time you'll be home each day? It could be 1pm, 2pm, 4pm or 5.30pm, you could get sent home at any time.
It was a total waste of time and we are no further on than we were at 9am this morning. I'm dreading Wednesday now and as I am not in court tomorrow I will have to go in to work. They were expecting me to be absent for 2 weeks so I will have to listen to cries of 'what are you doing here?' and repeat this sorry tale about 20 times.
The good news is that if you get summoned again within the next 2 years you have the right to refuse. After the day I've had, if I get called again within 2 years, I won't hesitate to refuse.