Jurors have been sworn in the trial of the man accused of murdering Phil Breach in Wood Farm last year.
A panel of 16 jurors were selected at Oxford Crown Court this afternoon (Monday, June 19), with the trial of Liam Jones expected to be opened tomorrow afternoon.
The 44-year-old grey-haired defendant, who stood in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit jumper and smoke-tinted spectacles, is accused of the murder of Phil Breach, 59, in Wood Farm on November 30 last year.
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The trial judge, Mr Justice Murray, told the jury panel made up of eight men and eight women that he had asked for more than 12 jurors to be selected.
Experience had shown in long-running cases that members of a jury ‘do not immediately realise there is a potential personal commitment’ preventing them from serving for the full length of the trial.
But he added that it would need to be a ‘very serious' commitment to excuse them from jury service, given the importance of the civic duty.
“I’ve had to serve on a jury myself,” the High Court judge said.
Wearing the red and white furred robes of his office, he added: “Even judges are required to do that these days.”
The judge went through a number of preliminary directions with the jury, explaining how long they would sit each day and the respective roles of jury and judge as judges of the ‘fact’ and deciding on matters of law.
He warned the jury against talking about the case with others until after the conclusion of the trial.
Similarly, he told them not to carry out any research on matters connected to the case – ‘not even on an abstract point’.
“Don’t even Google any names of counsel, even, or my name. Don’t do any research related to the case. It’s not only a contempt of court, but a criminal offence,” he said.
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Mr Justice Murray said he had once tried a case where a day into the jury starting their deliberations he was told that one juror had come in and presented the fruits of ‘some Google research’ he had done relating to a ‘medical issue’ that had only limited relevance to the case.
He had discharged the jury in the six week trial, he said. “Imagine the expense of that; six weeks of public money. We had to have a retrial. The retrial took seven weeks.”
The judge said: “In this case, the prosecution must prove in relation to the charges on the indictment that the defendant is guilty.
"The defendant does not have to prove his innocence. The burden of proving the defendants guilty remains on the prosecution from first to last.”
Noting the fact that the defendant had shielded eyes, Mr Justice Murray explained that Jones had a ‘light sensitivity’ and had been given permission to wear sunglasses for the duration of the trial.
Sarah Gaunt, who prosecutes the case alongside junior Henry James, is expected to give her opening speech on behalf of the Crown on Tuesday afternoon.
Jones, of Abingdon Road, Oxford, denies murder.
The trial, which could last up to four weeks, continues.
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