Jurors hearing the most distressing criminal trials are to receive round-the-clock help and free counselling for the first time.
In a pilot project launched this month, members of juries who must listen to detailed evidence of murders and rapes can now self-refer themselves for six sessions with specially trained counsellors.
They also have access to a 24/7 helpline for support and advice, rather than just having to rely on their GPs or the 111 phone line for mental health crises.
Jurors at 14 crown courts in England will receive leaflets at the end of the cases they have heard giving them details of the new help, under the six-month scheme funded by the Ministry of Justice but provided by Vita Health Group.
Jurors are sworn to secrecy about their deliberations, how they reached a verdict and how they voted.
However, jurors are allowed to speak about what they experienced in the courtroom – and how the case impacted them even after its conclusion.
Courts taking part in the pilot include those the Old Bailey, where last week sexual predator Mohamed Iidow was jailed for the horrific rape and manslaughter of a woman he found unconscious on a park bench.
Meanwhile, a juror who served on the murder trial of five-year-old Logan Mwangi said she was so traumatised by the evidence shown that she was signed off work for more than a month after.
Psychologist Dr Joselyn Sellen said she suffered recurrent nightmares following the trial, which had to pause several times after jurors found the evidence too distressing.
Five-year-old Logan was murdered by his mother, stepfather and a 14-year-old boy in July 2021.
The trial heard that the little boy died after suffering a ‘brutal and sustained’ attack at home that left him with ‘catastrophic’ injuries consistent with those seen in traffic accidents.
His body was then dumped like ‘fly-tipped rubbish’ in the River Ogmore, just 250m from his house in Sarn.
Meanwhile, jurors on the Letby trial – a nine-month ordeal which eventually saw the nurse convicted of murdering six babies and attempting to murder seven others – were given no counselling at all, despite their ‘distress’ being recognised by the government.
Justice Minister Heidi Alexander said: ‘Jury service is an essential part of criminal justice which underpins the impartiality and fairness that runs through our legal system.
‘Offering free emotional and mental support is a significant step forward to help jurors performing a vital public service who have heard distressing and traumatic evidence in often demanding, long and high-profile cases.’