First trial without jury in 350 years

[David Guyatt]

The thin edge of the Wedge - or the face of the future? You choose.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8582354.stm

Gang convicted of Heathrow raid


Peter Blake went on the run during the trial without a jury
A gang has been found guilty at the old Bailey of carrying out a £1.75m armed robbery at Heathrow Airport.
John Twomey and Glen Cameron, of Hampshire, Peter Blake and Barry Hibberd, of Notting Hill, targeted a Menzies World Cargo warehouse in 2004.
All four men were found guilty of robbery and having a firearm with intent to commit robbery.
The case was the first crown court criminal trial to be held without a jury for more than 350 years.
Jury 'tampering'
Since 2005 three previous trials, lasting up to six months at a time, collapsed.
The case became the first to be tried without jury after the Court of Appeal ruled last June there was a serious danger that a jury could be influenced.
Blake was also found guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
The 57-year-old went on the run while the trial was taking place at the Royal Courts of Justice. He pleaded guilty to breaching his bail conditions.
Hibberd was found not guilty of 13 charges on unrelated firearms offences concerning a cache of weapons at a lock-up garage in Uxbridge, west London.