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CPS Statement – R v Rayment and others
22/03/2005
Her Honour Judge Anne Goddard QC has discharged the jury in the trial of R v Rayment and others at the Old Bailey today.
The trial, which started in June 2003, dealt with an alleged fraud over contracts for the construction of London's Jubilee Line Extension Project (JLEP). It was always anticipated to be a lengthy trial because of the size and complexity of the case.
The prosecution closed its case in August 2004. However, in the seven months since the prosecution closed its case the jury has heard defence evidence on only 10 days of the available 140, amounting to approx 22.5 hours. The majority of the delays during this period have been caused through illness of the defendants, principally Mr Skinner.
Since the case started there have been substantial delays because of illnesses suffered by a number of jurors, one of the defendants and defence counsel, and because of other unexpected and unavoidable commitments of jurors.
On 14 March the judge adjourned the case to allow defence and prosecution counsel to consider their position in relation to an issue about one of the jurors. The Crown also asked for additional time to consider the wider issues of the trial. Counsel for the Crown, Patrick Upward QC, told the court today that after very careful consideration of all aspects of the case the Crown was now able to explain its position to the court.
He explained that significant time had been lost during the trial for various reasons and most recently there had been long delays in the course of the defence case because of illness. To date, over a period of five months, the jury had heard 22 hours of evidence from Mr Skinner, the first defendant to give evidence - the equivalent of five working court days. He explained that time had been lost since January because of counsel's illness, Mr Skinner's recurring illness and illness amongst members of the jury, and that the jury had heard no evidence since 1 st February. Taking into consideration the evidence still to be heard, jurors' necessary commitments and the time needed for summing-up, it was unlikely that the jury would be able to retire to consider its verdict before mid-September.
Mr Upward said:
"For reasons beyond the Crown's control, we have now reached a point at which minimal progress has been made since the beginning of the year; impetus has now ceased. We are now at the stage when this can only lead to unfairness. Furthermore, we are faced with the prospect of continuing delay and disruption.
"The Crown has a duty to the public to ensure that every trial is fair and is seen to be fair. We have now concluded that the continuation of this trial would undermine that fundamental principle.
"We are satisfied that this prosecution was properly brought, based on reliable evidence of substantial criminality. We believe that the counts in the indictment reflect the risk occasioned to the economic interests of London Underground Limited and as such properly mirror the extent of that criminality. We also believe that there is a high public interest in ensuring that criminality of such magnitude is brought fully to justice. For these reasons, we have pursued the prosecution for many months with determination. However, the accumulation of delays to date, the further delays that it is known that we face and the disruption of the evidence, most particularly that of the accused, leads us to conclude that the time has been reached when no jury, no matter how diligent and no matter how clearly directed, can be expected to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused in a way that would be regarded as fair by the objective bystander."
The Director of Casework at the CPS, Chris Newell said:
"I should like first to pay tribute to the jury for their hard work, care and commitment. We all owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
"The allegations in this case were very serious and it was clearly in the public interest to bring them before a court and to have them tried by a jury. Ultimately, for the reasons set out by counsel in court, this has not been possible and it is a matter of grave concern that such an important prosecution should end in this way.
"The Attorney General has asked Stephen Wooler, the Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's CPS Inspectorate, to conduct an inquiry. I welcome this. I and my staff - and, of course, counsel instructed - will do all that we can to assist Mr Wooler in his work. It is essential that the criminal justice system as a whole learns from this experience and that the exceptional circumstances that brought it about are never repeated."
The Crown has now taken a decision not to seek a retrial on this indictment and has informed the court that it will not be offering any evidence against the defendants on outstanding indictments relating to this matter. The judge has entered not guilty verdicts against all defendants. Paul Maw pleaded guilty in June 2003.
