A woman juror has been arrested after she was allegedly caught listening to an MP3 player hidden beneath her hijab during a murder trial.

The Muslim woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of concealing the device beneath her headscarf so that she could listen to music during the testimony of a man who bludgeoned his disabled wife to death.

Judge Roger Chapple, presiding, said that he thought he could hear “tinny music” in the courtroom at Blackfriars Crown Court in Central London, but dismissed it as a figment of his imagination until another juror sent him a note.

The woman was arrested for contempt of court on the direction of the judge on June 27 and is bailed to appear at the court before Judge Aidan Marron on July 23. The arrest can only be reported now after Alan Wicks, 72, the defendant at the trial, was convicted yesterday.

The juror, who is in her early twenties, was discharged by Judge Chapple and given warning that her behaviour, if proved, would amount to contempt of court. Outside the court she was searched by a police officer and an MP3 player was confiscated.

It is thought to be the first time that a juror has been accused of listening to music during a trial. John Cooper, a criminal barrister, said that people found guilty of contempt received an average of three years in prison. “It follows a long pedigree of contempt cases including jurors falling asleep and, in one case, jurors who used a Ouija board before they found a defendant guilty,” he said.

The woman had allegedly tried repeatedly to avoid jury service. She managed to postpone serving when she received her first summons and successfully avoided serving a second time by claiming to have toothache. On the third occasion she asked to be excused so that she could attend a nursing course but was obliged to serve when she failed to provide details.

She took an oath to try Wicks, a pensioner who was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years yesterday for murdering his wife of 50 years, but drew criticism from Judge Chapple after she arrived late at court repeatedly.

Peter Clarke, QC, for the prosecution, requested on Thursday that the juror be discharged, but his application was refused by the judge because discharges should follow only for “very, very serious . . . improper behaviour”. The next day a member of the defence team thought that she saw a wire under the woman’s head covering. Another juror passed the judge a note during a break for lunch alleging that her colleague had been listening to music during the defendant’s testimony.

The judge called the Muslim juror into court on her own and told her of the allegation. He said: “You are going to be discharged from this jury. You will play no further role.”

The remaining 11 members of the jury found Wicks guilty of murder. Judge Chapple told the defendant: “This was a ferocious and dreadful attack. Murders are often described as brutal, but it seems to me that description is entirely justified in this case.

“The force used was substantial - a minimum of 11 heavy blows to the skull. You then sought to spin a web of lies and deceit to cover your tracks and seek to avoid detection, but as this jury has found that was as false as it was elaborate.”

He told Wicks, who has suffered a series of minor strokes and now faces the prospect of dying in prison, that he would have to serve at least 11 years before being considered for parole.

Free law reports at timesonline.co.uk/law

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