Man jailed for threats to jury member

A LAUNCESTON man found guilty of contempt of court after threatening a juror in a Supreme Court trial last year has been sentenced to four months’ prison.

The man, now 20, was a coaccused with Jay Ashley Whatley, Zane Andrew Henderson and Coby Wells for brutalising a woman and forcing her to eat dog food at Ravenswood on October 16, 2014.

During the trial, the court heard that the men forced the woman to consume the dog food, burnt her, sprayed fly spray into her eyes, shot her with a taser-like weapon and hit her with a sock that contained a cake of soap.

It was alleged that the victim owed money to an associate of the males.

The man, who was a youth at the time he was charged and cannot be named, saw a juror during the luncheon adjournment of the July 2016 trial and said to her: “I can see another dog, bang bang.”

He also raised his fingers and made a shooting motion.

The jury trial in which he was a co-accused was discharged by Justice Robert Pearce.

In sentencing the man yesterday, Justice Shan Tennent described the contemptuous action as a “significant interference with the administration of justice.”

“The juror was frightened by your actions, scared for her safety and very upset,’’ she said.

“Other female jurors also feared for their safety when they were told of the incident.

“Jurors form an essential part of the fabric of criminal trials and should feel free to fulfil their role without interference.

“Your behaviour not only caused a trial to be aborted and a young victim to have to give evidence more often than she should have, but also had the potential to deter prospective jurors generally from being prepared to be involved in juries.”

The man was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to serve four months imprisonment.