A MAN has been jailed for sending his friend who was sitting on a jury in a high-profile rape trial a "prank" text stating: "If you find them guilty I will find you."
Married father-of-two James Lorne, 40, based the prank on the plot of the 2003 film Runaway Jury, starring Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman.
The film sees Hackman hired as a jury consultant who claims he can guarantee the result of a trial.
Lorne, from Cottingham, who owns a landscape gardening company that has exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show, claimed he was drunk when he sent the message from a pub, knowing his friend would not have the number.
But his prank backfired when he was jailed for 28 days at Hull Crown Court.
Lorne's stunt led to the juror, who cannot be named for legal reasons, being left "terrified".
Hull's most senior judge, Jeremy Richardson QC, had to halt the trial of Jason Britcher, a legal clerk from the south of England who was later convicted of rape and sexual assault.
John Thackray, prosecuting at Hull Crown Court, said Lorne sent the text at 8.52pm on December 11.
He said: "It read, 'I know who you are and if you find them guilty I will find you'.
"Of course, there was only one defendant. The text was received from a number he did not recognise.
"He phoned the police using 999. They attended his home. He explained that he was a juror and that he did not recognise the number.
"Police stayed with him that night."
Judge Richardson was made aware of the threat and the jury was dismissed, said Mr Thackray.
"By a quarter to one on the Friday the police had tracked down the defendant, via his mobile phone subscription, to Millhouse Woods Lane in Cottingham," said the prosecutor.
"On arrest for intimidating a juror, he said it was a stupid joke and he was sorry."
Mr Thackray said Lorne had heard his friend was taking part in jury service, but had not known the details of the case.
"The defendant said he sent the message at a time he was in a public house and said that he planned to text the juror when he returned home but forgot," said Mr Thackray.
"The consequence was that a day of the trial was lost."
Mr Thackray said prosecutors had been about to cross-examine Britcher when the threat came to light.
He said, in a worst case scenario, Lorne's actions could have resulted in a serious miscarriage of justice.
"There was a risk that the juror would not report the text message," he told the court.
"Thankfully, he did."
Lorne admitted the offence of intimidating a juror, contrary to the Contempt of Court Act.
Nigel Clive, defending Lorne, said his client deeply regretted his actions.
He said: "He is terribly asham- ed, contrite and embarrassed.
"He has taken some time to reflect on his actions and the consequences of his actions.
"The consequences were severe, but there was no malice or venom."
Sentencing Lorne, Judge Richardson said: "This was a serious contempt perpetrated in the middle of a difficult, sensitive and high-profile case.
"A measure of the seriousness of the case is that immediately before dealing with you I sentenced the defendant to nine years for his criminality.
"The juror was truly terrified, as was his wife."
Lorne, who has spent the weekend in prison, will be given the chance to "purge" his case by issuing a formal apology to the court and paying a legal bill likely to be several thousand pounds.
If successful, he could be released on Tuesday.
