A Bradford manslaughter case has ended in a mistrial after one of the jurors researched the case online.
Several witnesses had already testified when the trial of four people charged in the death of James McCallen suddenly stopped.
McCallen and his son were involved in an altercation while walking home from a bar in Bradford on Sept. 11, 2015. McCallen later died of head injuries in hospital.
One of the jurors had written a letter to the judge to tell him that juror number seven had conducted private research on the trial.
Juror number seven admitted to that judge that he visited the location where the alleged crime took place.
The juror also admitted to looking up the accused and several other members involved in the trial on the internet.
The judge dismissed the juror for failing to abide by instructions not to do any investigating into the case outside of the courtroom.
An inquiry was launched and the other 12 jurors stated they were aware of what juror seven had done. However, they said it wouldn’t impact their judgement on the trial.
Defence lawyers argued that the trial had been tainted and asked the judge to deliver a mistrial. Justice Guy Di Tomaso reluctantly agreed.
The four accused, Julian Zenczuk, 23, Ebenezer Ampadu, 25, James Paniccia, 22 and Jillian Clare, 23, will be back in court later this month.
The case will then go before a regional judge, but it’s not known yet if a new trial will be ordered.
