Spicerack,
It has now been revealed exactly how close to causing the second trial to collapse, Robinson’s actions came. Barristers representing the men eventually found guilty had made a legal submission to the trial judge to dismiss the jury on the probability that they MUST have seen the Robinson film. Fortunately after lengthy deliberations, the Trial Judge denied the request. But it could form the basis of an appeal.
// Four days after Robinson was originally jailed for contempt of court, defence lawyers launched an application to discharge the jury – a move that would have forced a lengthy retrial or ended the grooming case completely.
Lawyers defending members of the gang then argued it was “inconceivable” that jurors had not seen Robinson’s live stream, which would prejudice them against their clients.
Bunty Batra, a barrister representing rapist Faisal Nadeem, said the video had been viewed 3.5 million times, amid an international furore over Robinson’s imprisonment and protests in London.
“In my respectful submission these circumstances are so unprecedented, it is inconceivable when you have 3.5 million hits on the internet that this information has not come to the attention of this jury,” Mr Batra told the court.
“It is inconceivable that the jury have not been spoken to by others, whether they themselves were looking for the information matters or not.”
He argued that the jury could be biased against the defendants by watching the stream, where Robinson talked of “hundreds of young girls being gang-raped in our country, in every town and city” by “Muslim grooming gangs”.
He pointed out that several defendants were called Mohammed and urged viewers to look for a “common denominator”.
Defence lawyers representing four other members of the grooming gang backed the application. One said Robinson had listed allegations that were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Following lengthy legal arguments, Judge Marson dismissed the application and refused to question members of the jury on whether they had watched Robinson’s video. //