Shropshire residents write to Solicitor General in support of Jury rights

They join 300 people across the UK who today signed and posted similar letters in solidarity with Trudi Warner, a 68-year-old retired social worker who is being prosecuted by the Solicitor General for holding a sign describing the rights of juries outside Inner London Crown Court in March 2023.

The case has sent shockwaves through the legal world with eminent legal scholars accusing the government of launching an attack on the fundamental principles of common law justice.

Speaking on behalf of the Shropshire group, Broseley resident Kris Welch said:

"We sent this letter this morning because we are worried that a very basic and fundamental right of our jury system is being removed.

"In some courts, some defendants are no longer allowed to explain the motive for their actions to the jury. From this, it follows that the jury cannot exercise their right to find a defendant not guilty if they consider that the defendant's actions were necessary and just in the circumstances.

"This may apply to only a small number of cases, but to remove it, as some judges are doing, is to reduce the jury to becoming a rubber stamp for the wishes of a judge. Thus removing a vital role of a jury, that of being a safeguard against the abuse of power.

"This is why I have been a sign holder outside court, and why I have taken the exact same action as Trudi Warner. It is why I'm in Shrewsbury today sending a letter to the Solicitor General with my name on it, along with the names of hundreds of other equally concerned citizens."

Trudi Warner’s case has sparked a wave of solidarity actions. In early December last year around 500 people across England and Wales – including from Shropshire – reproduced her protest. They stood outside Crown Courts from Bolton to Truro holding the same signs. The police accepted this peaceful protest and no arrests were made.

Now 300 people who joined that protest are pushing the Solicitor General further by signing an open letter actively calling for themselves to be prosecuted for their actions.

Gill Davis, a grandmother and retired childcare advisor from Much Wenlock says:

"Is Trudi to be prosecuted for simply reminding ordinary people of the rights of the jury, "that the jury have the right to acquit according to their conscience”? I don't know how I could swear to tell the whole truth, in court, if I was not allowed to mention the context of my action. A jury can only exercise their full power if they know the full facts, and that must include the motivation and context of the defendant."

None of the Shropshire residents want to go to prison, but all say they are willing to if necessary in order to highlight what is happening to civil liberties in the UK.