Practice

Jury returning verdict on misunderstood issue - judge redirecting discharged jury for further deliberation - whether judge having power to redirect jury to deliberate further - whether discharged jury functus officio to deliberate further.

Igwemma v the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police: CA (Lords Justice Kennedy and Rix): 20 June 2001After a jury in a civil action returned a verdict for the claimant, the judge formally discharged the jury.

One of the jurors subsequently informed the judge that the jury had misunderstood the issue on the burden of proof when returning the verdict.

The judge then redirected the jury and sent them out for further deliberation, after which they returned a verdict for the defendant so that the claim was dismissed.

The claimant appealed.Leslie Thomas (instructed by Jackson & Canter, Liverpool) for the claimant; Michael Smith (instructed by Weightmans, Manchester) for the defendant.Held, dismissing the appeal, that in any trial, whether civil or criminal, where the jury had reached a verdict by mistake and where the interests of justice required in an appropriate case the trial judge had a discretion to set aside the order discharging the jury in order to direct them to deliberate further, provided that the jury's mistake had been brought to the attention of the trial judge without delay and that the members of the jury had not separated or seen or heard anything which had persuaded them to change their view since giving the original verdict.