Waiter’s big sleep halts a criminal trial
A WAITER’S 15-hour sleep cost taxpayers £12,000 – by delaying a trial.
Robert Mace, 36, failed to turn up for jury duty on the first day of the hearing at Hull crown court.
He later said he had gone to bed at 11pm, set his alarm for 6am, but slept to 2pm. A court bailiff sent to his home in Hull failed to wake him.
The trial was delayed by two days and then heard before another jury.
Mace, who said did not know why he had overslept, was fined £100 for contempt. Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, called his behaviour “deplorable”.
He added: “Other jurors were inconvenienced. Doctors of considerable eminence had to have their timetable for giving evidence revised.”