Juror sentenced for illegal research which collapsed kidnap trial

A JURY foreman who caused a high-profile kidnap trial to collapse after he researched the finances of one of the accused has been spared an immediate jail term.

Alan Frankcom (51) was referred to the Attorney General over his conduct, which was said by a judge at Southampton Crown Court to be borne out of “folly and arrogance”.

The actions by the Lymington resident meant six men suspected of committing “serious” offences went on to challenge their convictions at the Court of Appeal – although each of those bids failed.

But Frankcom was spared an immediate prison term – despite that being the usual punishment for those who undermine the process of trial by jury – because his wheelchair-bound wife relies on him for financial, emotional and physical support.

Prosecutor David Reid told the court Frankcom was the jury foreman in a 2017 retrial involving six defendants, one of whom was former Southampton gym owner Daniel Harkins. The accused faced a range of charges, including conspiracy to falsely imprison a man.

The case heard claims the defendants kidnapped a garage owner to get information on the identity of two men suspected of burning down Harkins’ gym. They were said to have tied him to a chair and forced a screwdriver up his nose to get details out of him.

Mr Reid said the jury retired to deliberate the case and returned with guilty verdicts on some of the charges.

But as they were about to retire again to consider the outstanding matters, one juror sent the judge, Peter Henry, a note declaring another juror – who was not Frankcom – had done their own private research, which is strictly barred.

Judge Henry then suspended the proceedings and closed the court while he called in each juror one by one to probe them. Frankcom was called and answered questions about the other juror before being dismissed.

But, Mr Reid went on, when the 12th juror was tackled by the judge, they reported being told by Frankcom he had been doing his own research.

Frankcom was then called back into court and under questioning admitted he had looked into Daniel Harkins’ financial situation using Google, but not before the jury deliberations had started.

The defendant said he had not divulged what he found out to anyone else although he had told another juror what he had done.

“That resulted in the jury being discharged,” Mr Reid said. “Judge Henry then referred Frankcom to the Attorney General, who authorised an investigation into the defendant.”

As a direct result, Harkins and his co-accused launched appeals, but they were rejected. Another retrial was held – but they pleaded guilty to the charges at its outset and the gang was eventually jailed for a combined total of 43 years.

Mr Reid added a conservative calculation of the cost of the collapsed retrial was put at £4,200.

In a police interview, Frankcom admitted what he had done.

“He repeated he had intended to look at Daniel Harkins’ finances on the internet as he felt these matters had already been explored in the trial, and he had not shared the information he had found with anyone else,” the prosecutor said.

Mr Reid stressed Judge Henry issued the standard warning to jurors at the outset of the retrial that they should only consider evidence put before them in open court and risked undermining the case and getting into trouble if they conducted their own research.

Frankcom, of Lymington Road, was of exemplary character, the court heard, and was very remorseful for his actions.

Defence solicitor Chris Gaiger handed several character references to the judge and stressed that Frankcom’s family depended on him. His wife is wheelchair-bound and one of the defendant’s three children has mental health problems.

Turning to the offending, Mr Gaiger said his client was not motivated by malice but a wish to “affirm” his decision-making in the case.

“He did not try to influence any other person on the jury with information he found. His intention was to identify his own view and his own decision of what he thought in relation to that particular defendant. Clearly, he should not have done that, he accepts that.

“It was a massive error of judgement on his behalf.”

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Parker QC said: “Trial by jury, by an independent jury on the evidence admitted in court and nothing else, is regarded by many as one of the keystones of a free society, of free elections and a free press.”

He highlighted that in the retrial, at least one of the defendants and one of the prosecution witnesses were regarded as “vulnerable” and “in fear of reprisals”.

But he acknowledged the defendants did not benefit from Frankcom’s offending, and stated: “It is highly unlikely [you] did it deliberately to damage the process of trial by jury.”

Judge Parker told Frankcom: “Your behaviour was borne out of folly and a measure of arrogance rather than malice or a wish to interfere with the character of trial by jury.”

Not jailing Frankcom would be an “unusual” course of action, but he was “persuaded” to do that by the mitigation and “outstanding” character references he had read.

Frankcom was given a four-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work in the community, and given a four-month curfew between 9pm and 6.30am. He must pay £535 court costs and £4,200 compensation to the Crown Prosecution Service to cover the cost of the collapsed trial.

As Frankcom exited the dock, Judge Parker added: “It’s very unfortunate you should end up here having been carrying out your public service.

"You know now, if you didn’t know before, just how seriously the oath taken by a jury is, not only by the public but everyone in the community.”