'Dozing' judge abandons trial

A judge has abandoned a rape trial in its fourth day after the defence said he had fallen asleep during the closing speeches.

The Lord Chancellor has ordered a report into claims Judge Gabriel Hutton dropped off twice as defence counsel Chris Austin made his final speech in the trial.

Mr Austin applied for the jury to be discharged and a re-trial ordered on the grounds that the judge could not give a proper summing up of the case.

Judge Hutton agreed and stopped the trial of 21-year-old Lee Woodward, of Sharpness, near Dursley, South Gloucestershire.

We have all been in that situation where we have started to drift off

Paul Griffin, defence solicitor

Mr Woodward had denied raping an 18-year-old woman at Sharpness docks between midnight on August 1 and 7am on August 2 this year.

A spokesman for the Court Service said: "The judge said this morning that he was thought to have nodded off.

"He was not aware that he had, but because he gave that impression he has ordered a re-trial.

"The Lord Chancellor was very concerned to hear of this reported incident and has asked officials to prepare a report to include Judge Hutton's comments on what happened."

The Crown Prosecution Service in Gloucester confirmed it would be seeking a re-trial in the case of Mr Woodward.

His solicitor Paul Griffin, from the Gloucester-based legal firm Brand Mellon, said: "I think this is very unfortunate.

Fair hearing

"We have all got a certain amount of sympathy for the judge because we have all been in that situation where we have started to drift off.

"But having said that, from our client's point of view, for him to have a fair hearing we felt that the trial needed to start again.

The trial was taking place at Gloucester Crown Court

The solicitor said Mr Woodward was pleased to have been given the opportunity to spend Christmas at home.

But he added that his client probably now faced a wait of "several months" before learning when he may be subject to a re-trial.

According to the Court Service, one day at a crown court trial costs an estimated £8,800.

That means the abandoned trial would have cost an estimated £35,200.

Judge Hutton, 69, has been a circuit judge since 1978, and resident judge at Gloucester Crown Court since 1990.

He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.