Juror jailed for Facebook contempt

A female juror who contacted a defendant through the Facebook social networking website, causing a multi-million pound trial to collapse, was jailed for eight months from today.

Joanne Fraill, 40, admitted at London’s High Court to using Facebook to exchange messages with Jamie Sewart, 34, a female defendant who had been acquitted in an ongoing drug trial in Manchester last year.

Fraill, from Manchester, also admitted conducting an internet search into Sewart’s boyfriend, Gary Knox, a co-defendant, while the jury was still deliberating.

Sewart was given a two-month sentence suspended for two years after being found guilty of contempt,the Press Association reported.

Taxpayers were left picking up a bill of £6 million (RM29.67 million) after the judge was forced to discharge the jury in the original trial.