Facebooking juror gets 8 months

Joanne Fraill, the juror who admitted contacting an acquitted defendant during a drugs trial, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.

The 40-year-old was a juror in a drugs trial when she contacted Jamie Sewart, who had been acquitted earlier in the trial.

Sewart got two months, suspended for two years for contempt of court. She was told the sentence was suspended because she has a young child, the BBC reports.

Fraill's actions caused the judge to dismiss the jury and the trial collapsed. She discussed the jury's deliberations with Sewart and other messages seemed to suggest she knew she was acting illegally.

Fraill also admitted Googling Sewart's boyfriend Gary Knox, another defendant. UK juries are specifically warned to ignore any information outside that presented in court.

The case is expected to lead to more explicit advice to juries that they cannot discuss cases outside the jury room whether in person, on Twitter or in any other form. ®