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Celebrities Sign For The Verdict

Former MP Jeffrey Archer, actress Honor Blackman, footballer Stan Collymore and Blur band member Alex James are some some of the names lined up on the celebrity jury for BBC Two's The Verdict.

The programme, produced by RDF, examines the UK judicial system via a jury of 12 celebrities sitting in judgement on a legal trial.

The Verdict will focus on a highly contemporary and controversial case, based on evidence and examples from real life, improvised by actors and contested by real barristers and a real judge.

Other jury members are former Brookside actress Jennifer Ellison; head of the Ann Summers empire Jaqueline Gold; So Solid crew member MegaMan; millionaire teen entrepreneur Dominic McVey; actress Patsy Palmer; the mother who campaigned for Sarah's Law, Sara Payne; estranged wife of Chris Tarrant Ingrid Tarrant and former Tory MP and broadcaster Michael Portillo.

The twelve jurors will sit in judgement on a four day trial in a real courtroom, presided over by a real judge, with real barristers prosecuting and defending. The jury will then retire to the jury room to begin their deliberations. But the cameras will be there, observing for the first time the dynamics of a how a jury reaches it verdict.

A BBC Three programme will then follow the jury back to their hotel to find out how they have reacted to the day's proceedings.

The case features the rape trial of an internationally famous footballer, Damien Scott, and his friend, James Greer. Scott and Greer are fictitious characters, but in the weeks leading up to the case the actors playing them have experienced what is like to be arrested, interviewed under caution by real policemen and examined by real forensic experts.

The trial is totally unscripted so that when the witnesses appear in the witness box, they give evidence about experiences that to them, to the jury, and to viewers will appear real.

Roly Keating, Controller of BBC Two said: "This is a hugely ambitious project which brings the law to life in a completely new way. It will be fascinating to follow the twists and turns of the case, see the dynamics and power struggles within the jury, learn about the jury system with its inherent flaws and strengths - and engage with the whole experience even more deeply on broadband."

The show is expected to be broadcast in February.
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Look who is holding court

Sun

13 December
ARCHER JURY SHOW ROW

JEFFREY Archer is going back to court - for a celebrity jury show which has sparked a fierce row between the BBC and ITV.

The disgraced ex-Tory MP, who served two years for perjury, will join other "jurors", including EastEnders Patsy Palmer, in The Verdict on BBC2.

The 12 celebrities in a mock trial decide if a fictional football star and his friend are guilty of rape.



But the show is in a race to hit the screen - it is due to air in January - after ITV1 launched 12 Angry Celebrities who deliberate over a murder trial.

A BBC insider said: "We can't believe ITV launched such a similar project." mirror

Celebrity jury is on the case as BBC creates reality television rape trial

Twelve famous faces: Millionaires, musicians and former MPs

1. Dominic McVey

21-year-old entrepreneur who made his first million by the age of 15 importing micro-scooters. Has diversified into other business interests and has a fortune estimated at £7m

2. Ingrid Tarrant

Estranged wife of Chris and mother of four. Successful fashion designer and retailer who met her husband working as a reporter at TV-am in 1981. They married in 1991 but separated this year

3. Jennifer Ellison

23-year-old former international ballet champion who found fame at 14 in Brookside. Won reality TV show Hell's Kitchen and regularly appears in men's magazines. Currently touring the country as Roxie Hart in Chicago

4. Michael Portillo

Elected to the Commons in November 1984 as MP for Enfield Southgate and went on to be defence secretary. Since his shock defeat in 1997 he has made TV documentaries and is a regular pundit on TV show This Week and is theatre critic for the New Statesman

5. Jeffrey Archer

66-year-old Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare is a bestselling novelist and former deputy chair of the Conservative party. He was jailed for four years in 2001 for perjury and perverting the course of justice. Signed by ITV to star in new reality show Fortune and recently secured a publishing contract with Macmillan worth £12m

6. Patsy Palmer

Born Julie Harris, the 34-year old former Grange Hill actor became famous for her six-year stint as Bianca in EastEnders. Appeared on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2004

7. Dwayne Vincent AKA Megaman

27-year-old co-founder of So Solid Crew, cleared of the murder of Colin Scarlett - who was shot on a street in Tooting in 2004 - in September this year after three Old Bailey trials

8. Alex James

Bass player with Blur, aged 38, who has written for the Independent and the Observer. Owns a 200-acre farm in the Cotswolds and recently landed a job as presenter of the Sunday morning series On Your Farm on Radio 4

9. Stan Collymore

Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and England striker who retired in 2001. He was vilified by the press in 1998 after punching then-girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson in a bar. In 2004 he was caught "dogging" and was fired from his commentating job on Radio 5 Live. Has appeared in Five's reality show The Farm and Basic Instinct 2

10. Honor Blackman

Best known for the roles of Judo expert Dr Cathy Gale in The Avengers and as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. Declined a CBE in 2002 and has been a prominent supporter of the Liberal Democrats. Currently fronting a campaign for Sure deodorant, chosen to represent busy women through the generations

11. Jacqueline Gold

Joined the family business at 19 and transformed Ann Summers from two low-key shops into a multimillion pound concern. Six years ago she took over lingerie chain Knickerbox. The 46-year-old is the subject of several documentaries. Her father co-owns Birmingham City football club

12. Sara Payne

Mother of Sarah, eight, who was found dead two weeks after being abducted from a cornfield by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000. Campaigns for the introduction of "Sarah's Law", which would give local parents the right to know the addresses of convicted paedophiles and has published an autobiography
Linda MacDonald




guardian

I don't feel its right that Sarah Payne's mum is on this.

The Lord & His Shepherd

09.02.2007

WHAT is it about learning that Jeffrey Archer lives in a vicarage that causes readers to throw back their heads and snort “Ha!”?

Is finding God the last refuge of the rogue?

There will much debate on this. But before Archer can find God, he is embroiled in a more pressing hunt.

In “Archer’s garden sculptures stolen”, the Mail looks at the shepherd and sheep that once took pride of place in Archer’s spiritual retreat.

The good shepherd and his flock have been stolen. They have strayed from the path at Archer’s Grantchester home.

Lady Archer says she and her husband are “sad and angry” at the theft. Says she: “It was captured on CCTV and it took them two hours to uproot the statues and drive away. It was quite frightening for me because I was in the house at the time.”

Being so close to villains can be no easy thing. The fragrant Mary has done well to muster her courage to speak.

But she can rest assured that the police are onto it. The law always get their man in the end. And this time, Mr and Mrs Archer can rest assured that justice will triumph.

Detective Sergeant Dean Wiffins in on the case, ma’am. Says he: “These sculptures would have needed a large vehicle to move them and I would like to hear from anyone who remembers seeing a van or any suspicious activity in the area on Tuesday evening.”

Nothing gets pass the police. And right it is that making off with a 6ft-tall naked bronze shepherd and assorted metal livestock would have required a generously sized vehicle. If the police require an idea of what a large vehicle looks like they can observe the footage from the Archers’ CCTV camera.

But among this bad news, there is good news. The thieves did not take all of Jeffrey’s garden ornaments. Among items left behind was a sculpture of Lord Archer.

The Lord remains in his kingdom... anorak

I was really looking forward to this as I've ALWAYS wanted to "do" jury duty since I was a kid and am really interested in the justice system here.

I really enjoyed it and so far am finding it difficult to decide myself with the limited parts of the case we have seen so far.

Oh and I like most of the people in it - Alex James aint half aged I used to fancy him when I was at college

Stan is proving to be a bit of a knobhead so far only interested in voicing his own very loud opinion and insisting he knows more about it, then getting annoyed when the others have a differing opinion or say to him to not base it on cases hes heard of before which he's insisting he isnt but keeps refering back to other cases!

My daughter might do Law at Uni and she actually has a work placement at the Old Bailey with a QC soon so we are really enjoying the programme.
Stan is a peice of work, he is looking at the case from his own perspective I think and once again he is trying to take over proceedings by shouting down any other view on the case.
One thing this case is showing me Obo is we all get tarred with the same brush and I think because the accused is a footballer and all the previous cases that have been in the scum newspaper's QCs Jane Humphreys words about girls setting up situation with footballers and famous men for the money might sway the Jury in this case.

The web page for the show has a lot of Support links and Related web links for anyone who needs them.....
BBC

I've been following this throughout, and the interplay between the jury members is just as interesting as the trial itself. Yes, the big-mouth brummie is coming across as a bit of a nkobhead. He's almost trying to demean everyone else's opinions (particularly the women's) by stealth. It just proves one thing: the louder you shout, the less people listen.

I think an offence definitely occurred. Damien had intercourse with Anna Crane, but it was consensual. Having 'dumped' her, she was obviously upset, and, together with being drunk, in a state that someone could possibly take advantage of. She was then raped by at least two other men, one of them James Greer, the other possibly the hotel porter.

I think Damien is under pressure from James to protect his best mate. Anna accused Damien to exact some kind of revenge on him. In a way, he could be guilty by association. Either by perverting the course of justice, or by doing nothing to stop her being raped.

My verdict:
Damien: Not Guilty of Rape
James: Guilty of Rape

I think Damien, James and the porter raped Anna and thought they would get away with it. Joanna Greenberg QC said to James - "You never said where you were going when you left the room, as far as the girls knew you could have gone to a bar or a club so they did not know if you would have an alibi when thery made the complaint".

My take on it is James went down to the front desk to see the porter and told him they had to give Damien some time with Anna but that they could join in later.
And as for Damien saying he never got in touch with his best friend to tell him he had been interviewed by the police about the alleged rape is a load of B*ll**ks, imo.

My verdict:
Damien, James guilty of rape and the porter should be arrested for the same crime.

The case of the porter is difficult as no evidence has been brought against him, therefore he can't be tried in this trial, so he must be left out of the equation (unless there's enough evidence for him to appear in a later trial). I think that aspect, as well as a few others, has been a glaring omission from the police investigation, which is more Keystone Kops.

Because it's a TV programme, and rape convictions are notoriously low, I think both men will be found Guilty. If both both are found Not Guilty it would only serve to deter potential victims from reporting their experiences, and I don't think the BBC would be prepared to take that risk. I don't think that's the correct verdict, but I think that's the verdict the show will try aim to deliver.

Agree about the verdict, tastyfish. A lot of womenand men I am sure do not report rape because of the low conviction rate.
My sister's friend's son was raped last year. He left a nightclub, very drunk, and was dragged up an alleyway and raped by two men. He does not even rememer seeing the men on the street before he was attacked. It happened two weeks before he was to be married and I need not say there was no wedding, he is still off work with depression and a great concern for his parents and girlfriend.

I have changed my mind and think the men will be found innocent, well if it follows the vedict that usually comes in these cases they should find the guys innocent that would be more realistic, don't you think.