Protesters to hold sit in outside Doncaster Crown Court over jury freedoms

The protest group Defend Our Juries has held a number of demonstrations across the country as campaigners move to support Trudi Warner who found herself in trouble with the law after holding up a sign outside a London court about the rights of jurors, according to the organisation Liberty Human Rights.

She was reportedly protesting over restrictions by a judge placed on a jury in a case involving climate activists.

This morning, from 8.45am, people will gather outside Doncaster Crown Court in College Road in support of her, holding up similar signs and placards.

The campaign group Defend Our Juries, which is organising the protest, says campaigners run the risk of arrest.

A spokesman said in a statement: “Their message to the Judiciary and Attorney general is clear; if you are going to prosecute Trudi Warner, then you must prosecute us too.”

Protest signs will display the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, i.e. the right of all jurors in British courtrooms to acquit a defendant according to their conscience and irrespective of the directions of the judge.

More than 250 people have already gathered outside 25 crown courts across England and Wales, holding similar signs in solidarity with Trudi.

The campaign has gathered powerful support from eminent professors of law, such as Professor Richard Vogler and Professor John Spencer.

In the words of Professor Vogler: “George Orwell noticed the tendency of repressive law to degenerate into farce, when truth becomes a lie and common sense is heresy.

"This is worth remembering now that the solicitor general, Michael Tomlinson KC, has concluded that it is right to take action against Trudi Warner, for holding up a sign outside a criminal court, simply proclaiming one of the fundamental principles of the common law: the right of a jury to decide a case according to its conscience.”

The demonstrations come amid mounting public concern that political trials are being turned into show trials, after a succession of jury acquittals.