ABSTRACT
Intimidation of a member of a jury is a criminal contempt whether it is in court or out of court, once it is done in relation to his functions as a juror. A jury should be free to return a verdict without fear or favour from the defendant, counsel, witnesses or even the judge.46 In R v McKenna et al (1960) 44 Cr App R 63, the judge told the jury that if they did not arrive at a verdict by a certain time, he would keep them all night and resume court after 11 the next morning. The judge said this at 2:38 pm to the jury, after which they again retired and were back at 2:45 pm with a verdict. On appeal, the conviction was quashed: the Court of Criminal Appeal held that this could be considered intimidation.
