At last, it’s the end.<\/p>\n
After more deliberation we finally made up our minds at about 12:20pm. Not
\nwithout the help of a load of cakes I bought from a Starbucks coffee franchise
\non the way to the court, however.<\/p>\n
I was surprised at how nervous I got when the verdicts were being asked for,
\nand I wasn’t even the foreman. Having talked to my colleagues, they all found
\nthis very stressful. If you’re interested, we found one person guilty of
\nviolent disorder and unlawful wounding, another guilty for violent disorder
\nand the other three not guilty. Sentencing of the guilty won’t be for at
\nleast 3 weeks as pre-sentencing reports have been asked for and we won’t
\nbe there for that.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, a group of us went down to the Head of the River pub, sat outside,
\nchatted, drank and managed to wind down and get over the stress of the verdict.
\nWe all agreed that this was a very good idea in the end. We definitely needed
\nto get it all out of our systems.<\/p>\n
At about 3:15pm we all went our separate ways. It’s strange that this group
\nof people who have been held so closely together and have gone through so
\nmuch together will now probably never see each other again. We all made temporary
\nfriendships which are now over. In some ways it’s sad but the experiences
\nwe had were not altogther pleasant and people just want to get back to their
\nnormal lives now. The parting of the ways is a way of compartmentalising
\nthe experience and partitioning it from the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n
The rest of the afternoon, such as there was, has been taken up with talking
\nto people and not doing work as such. Happy Hour starts in about 25 minutes.
\nI only realised a little while ago that I haven’t had lunch!<\/p>\n
Anyway, now it’s back to normal life. I’m free. I’m demobbed. What do I do now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At last, it’s the end. After more deliberation we finally made up our minds at about 12:20pm. Not without the help of a load of cakes I bought from a Starbucks coffee franchise on the way to the court, however. … Continue reading