Leeds retrial concern

Media and criminal lawyers this week expressed concern over, but ultimately support for, the retrial of Leeds United footballers Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer.Mr Justice Poole, who ended the first trial over a newspaper article that could have prejudiced the defendants, set the retrial for 8 October after a pre-trial hearing in September.

Franklin Sinclair, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said: If the retrial goes ahead, the story will have had so much exposure it will be very difficult for it not to be tainted.

However, I do feel there must be a retrial in the public interest.Media law specialist David Price agreed: The sight of Lee Bowyer playing football for four months must have had an effect on peoples subconscious.

It will be very hard to get jurors with a totally unbiased view.However, if the prosecution had failed without the verdict of a jury there would have been a publicoutcry you must have faith in the jury system to come up with thecorrect and right decision.While Mr Sinclair said the judge had no option but to stop the trial, Mr Price argued: On one hand the jury are considered 12 ordinarypeople who can make a balanced judgement and on the other it is being assumed that they are susceptible to a newspaper article on a matter which the judge had specifically ruled previously.Andrew Towler