First English criminal trial for 400 years without jury convicts 'Heathrow Four'
31/03/2010
Head of Chambers, Simon Russell Flint QC, is victorious as chief prosecutor in the landmark ‘jury-less’ trial of the Heathrow robbers who were today found guilty.
John Twomey, 61, Peter Blake, 57, Glenn Cameron, 50, and Barry Hibberd, 43, were all convicted at the Old Bailey after the judge heard evidence that they were responsible for "a professionally planned and professionally executed" armed robbery at the Menzies warehouse at Heathrow airport in February 2004, in which one member of staff was shot at and attacked.
The legislation for trials without jury was passed in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 based on the premise that many juries wouldn’t be able to deal with long and complex trials, and concern that juries may be tampered or interfered with. Mr Russell Flint QC was first instructed in this case in 2004, which later, in June 2009 became the first criminal trial in England and Wales that the Court of Appeal ruled could take place at Crown Court without a jury – making legal history.
A detailed overview of the case may be found on the Telegraph website