Sometimes, friends of the defendant might try to interfere with the jury. This might be bribing jury members to bring in a not guilty verdict or making threats against jury members so that they are too afraid to find the defendant guilty. In such cases, the police may be used to try to protect the jurors but this may not be effective. It is also expensive and removes the police from their other work.
To combat this, s44Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides that where there has already been an effort to tamper with a jury in the case, the prosecution can apply for the case to be heard by the judge alone.
