- Jury dismissed after failing to reach domestic abuse verdict after 23 hours deliberation
- Crown Prosecution Service has a week to decide whether to pursue a retrial. If there is a retrial a new jury would be sworn in to hear the evidence.
- Ryan Giggs has been released on bail until 7 September.
- Any retrial will not take place until at least 5 June 2023
The Jury in the Ryan Giggs trial in Manchester has been dismissed after failing to reach a verdict on any of the 3 counts of domestic abuse.
In spite of deliberating for almost 23 hours following the 3 and a half week trial, the jury failed to reach even a majority verdict and has therefore been discharged.
Ryan Giggs, the 48 year old former Manchester Utd player and former Wales manager, was accused of controlling behaviour and 2 charges of assault for allegedly head-butting his ex-partner Kate Greville, 38, during a row at his home in November 2020 as well as allegedly assaulting Kate Greville’s sister Emma, 26.
Ryan Giggs denies all charges.
The Crown Prosecution Service has a week to decide whether to pursue a retrial. If there is a retrial a new jury would be sworn in to hear the evidence.
Ryan Giggs has been released on bail until 7 September.
Any retrial will not take place until at least 5 June 2023, Judge Hilary Manley said.
The Juries Act 1974 requires at least 2 hours to pass between a jury retiring and a majority direction being given. The convention, however, is to allow at least 2 hours and 10 minutes to take into account the time it would take any jury to get from the courtroom to the jury room and back. There should, however, be no pressure on a jury to reach a decision. For more complex cases more time will be allowed before a majority direction is given.
Where a majority direction has been given the permissible split depends on the number of jurors:
- 12 jurors – the majority verdict can be 11-1 or 10-2.
- 11 jurors – the majority verdict can only be 10-1.
- 10 jurors – the majority verdict can only be 9-1.
- 9 jurors – no majority verdict is permitted
If a jury cannot reach a verdict – either unanimously or by a permissible majority – and the judge feels that nothing would be achieved by continuing their deliberations the whole jury will be discharged.
In the meantime, former Manchester Utd and England footballer, Gary Neville has been referred to The Attorney General regarding a post he made on his Instagram account during the Ryan Giggs’ trial. Judge Hilary Manley pointed out “both the prosecution and defence agreed with me, in the absence of any comment from the jury, and given my clear direction, the trial could properly continue…however, given the author is a person with a high public profile, [the comment] could be seen to be an attempt to influence ongoing criminal proceedings and could be contempt of court.”
‘Contempt of court’ happens when someone risks unfairly influencing a court case. It may stop somebody from getting a fair trial and can affect a trial’s outcome. It is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 2 years, a fine or both.
Gary Neville denies the statement was made in relation to the trial of his former team mate.
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