By IRNA,
London : England’s first criminal trial without a jury in more than 400 years is set to start on Tuesday in the fourth attempt to prosecute 62-year old John Twomey over a bungled robbery at Heathrow airport in 2004.
The historic trial, being held under provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, comes after the court of appeal examined secret evidence and ruled last year that “the danger of jury tampering and the subversion of the process of trial by jury is very significant”.
In the last 400 years, the only trials in the UK to be held without juries were the so-called Diplock courts of three judges set up to provide justice in the intimidating atmosphere during the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.
Twomey and three co-defenders Peter Blake, Barry Hibberd and Glen Cameron, are charged with possession of a firearm, robbery and conspiracy to rob.
During the armed raid at Heathrow, six masked men are alleged to rounded up members of staff at gunpoint when stealing £1.75m ($2.7m) from Menzies World Cargo warehouse.
Twomey has faced three earlier trials costing over £25m. At the first, in 2005, he suffered a heart attack and was severed from the indictment, while six co-defendants were subsequently acquitted.
At the second, the jury failed to reach a verdict and the third was halted halfway through by the judge when the prosecution alleged the jury had been tampered with.
Defence lawyers have alleged that the police have a grudge against Twomey, who previously gave evidence against the police during a notorious corruption inquiry in the 1980s that led to more than 400 officers to lose their jobs.
“It is no coincidence that he is now the first defendant to face trial by judge alone, based on undisclosed evidence presented by the Metropolitan police to judges behind closed doors,” his lawyer James Saunders said.