Juror jailed over online research

Level 2

Intermediate

1 Warmer
How many internet-related crimes can you think of?
Are people likely to be sent to prison for committing these crimes?

2 Key words
Write the key words from the article next to the definitions below. The paragraph numbers have been given
to help you find the words in context.

contempt of court

defendant

jailed

grievous bodily harm (GBH)

trial

juror proceedings

1. one of a group of 12 ordinary members of the public who judge a court case ___________________________
(title)
2. put in prison ___________________________ (title)
3. someone who has been accused of a crime and is on trial ___________________________ (subtitle)
4. the crime of not doing what a judge in a court of law has ordered you to do ___________________________
(para 2)
5. the process of examining a case in a court of law and deciding whether someone is guilty or innocent
___________________________ (para 4)
6. the crime of attacking someone violently and causing very serious injuries ___________________________
(para 4)
7. the actions taken, usually in court, to settle a legal matter ___________________________ (para 5)

acquit

justice

appeal

victim

oath prosecuted sentence

8. to formally ask a court of law to change its decision ___________________________ (para 5)

9. treatment of people that is fair and morally right ___________________________ (para 6)
10. a formal promise, especially one made in a court of law ___________________________ (para 7)
11. a verb (usually used in the passive form) to state officially that someone is not guilty of the crime they were
accused of ___________________________ (para 9)
12. a punishment given by a judge, usually involving a period of time that a person must spend in prison
___________________________ (para 13)
13. someone who has been harmed, injured or killed as the result of a crime ___________________________
(para 13)

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NEWS LESSONS / Juror jailed over online research / Intermediate

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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

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14. accused of a crime and judged by a court of law ___________________________ (para 14)

Juror jailed over online research

Intermediate

Juror jailed over online research

2 Theodora Dallas, 34, taught psychology at the

University of Bedfordshire. She was found guilty
of contempt of court by three high court judges,
including Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice.
3 The case shows the growing problem that courts
have: they must make sure jurors do not use
the internet to investigate cases, in a time when
looking up facts on a computer seems natural.
4 Dallas, who did the research at home, was a juror
in the trial at Luton Crown Court in July 2011.
She told other members of the jury what she had
found out about the defendant, Barry Medlock.
Medlock was on trial for grievous bodily harm.
The judge had to stop the trial after discovering
what had happened. At a later date, Medlock was
tried again and found guilty.
5 The contempt of court proceedings were started
by the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve. The
judges did not allow Dallas to appeal but she can
apply directly to challenge the decision.
6 The Lord Chief Justice said Dallas had
deliberately disobeyed the trial judges
instructions not to search the internet. He added:
The damage to the administration of justice
is obvious.
7 He said other jurors had fully understood that
they were not allowed to use the internet. Her
behaviour in visiting the internet repeatedly was
directly contrary to her oath as a juror.
8 Dallas, already suspended by the university,
has now resigned from her job. The court had
previously heard that she was a woman of
good character, and that she had got a degree
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NEWS LESSONS / Juror jailed over online research / Intermediate

10 Dallas admitted that sometimes my grasp of

English is not that good.
11 I did not understand that I could make no search
on the internet, Dallas explained. I had no
intention at all of prejudicing the jury in any way.
I had no intention of disobeying what the judge
said. I really apologize. I never thought it would
cause such problems.
12 Judge admitted that such cases were quite a new
problem for the courts. We are trying to produce
a simple formula for use, he said. This is a
relatively new area.
13 After the sentence was given, Grieve said: I take
no pleasure in bringing such cases but they send
an important message. By her action Ms Dallas
stopped a trial which was near completion and
aside from the financial implications, her actions
resulted in the victim in the case being forced
to return to court and give evidence for a
second time.
14 There can be little doubt that repeated warnings
were given to Ms Dallas and her fellow jurors
not to conduct research into the case which they
were trying. Only three weeks earlier another
juror Joanne Fraill was prosecuted for discussing
a trial on Facebook; a case mentioned by the
judge in his directions to the jury.
15 A report for the Ministry of Justice in 2010 found
that two out of three jurors do not fully understand
the legal instructions given to them by judges.
Guardian News & Media 2012
First published in The Guardian, 23/01/12

1 A former university lecturer who did online

research about a criminal defendant while she
was a juror has been jailed for six months.

She said she had been checking the meaning of

grievous bodily harm on the internet, then she
added the word Luton to a search. This search
showed a newspaper report which mentioned
that Medlock had previously been accused of
rape. It showed he had been acquitted of the
charge and it included information not talked
about during his trial.

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Owen Bowcott
23 January, 2012

P
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University lecturer Theodora Dallas jailed for six

months for researching criminal defendant while
serving on jury

in the UK after she arrived from Greece at the

age of 19.

CA

Level 2

Juror jailed over online research

Level 2

Intermediate

3 Comprehension check
Answer the questions according to the information in the article.
1.
a.
b.
c.

Theodora Dallas was sent ...

home.
to Greece.
to jail.

2.
a.
b.
c.

She was on trial for

grievous bodily harm.
contempt of court.
rape.

3.
a.
b.
c.

She did online research into the defendant

at home.
at an internet caf.
in court on her smartphone.

4.
a.
b.
c.

Barry Medlock was on trial for .

grievous bodily harm.
contempt of court.
rape.

5.
a.
b.
c.

She said she had carried out the research because

she wanted to find out whether Medlock had a criminal record.
she wanted to look up a legal term.
she comes from Greece.

4 Collocations

b. a decision

3. be

c. guilty

4. challenge

d. evidence

5. search

e. a trial

6. acquitted

f. on trial

7. prejudice

g. the internet

8. give

h. cases

9. conduct

i. a jury

10. discuss

j. research

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NEWS LESSONS / Juror jailed over online research / Intermediate

2. investigate

P
H

a. of a charge

CA

1. find

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Match the verbs or verb forms on the left with the words on the right to make collocations from the article.
Discuss their meanings and make example sentences for each one.

Juror jailed over online research

Level 2

Intermediate

5 Word formation
Complete the table with verbs and nouns found in the article.
nouns

verbs

1.

try (someone)

2.

research

3.

usage

4.

discovery

5.

appeal

6.

decide

7.

administer

8.

resignation

9.

acquit

10.

apology

11.

sentence

12.

complete

13.

implicate

14.

report

6 Discussion
Do you think that the juror should have been sent to jail? Why? Why not?

7 Writing
Write a letter to a newspaper or write a comment for an internet forum. Say why you think the decision to
send Ms Dallas to jail was right or wrong.

8 Webquest
Find out about the British jury system at
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/Juryservice/DG_072707.

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NEWS LESSONS / Juror jailed over online research / Intermediate

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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2012

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Is the system in your country similar?