The game's up: jurors playing Sudoku

AFTER 105 witnesses and three months of evidence, a drug trial costing $1 million was aborted yesterday when it emerged that jurors had been playing Sudoku since the trial's second week.

In the District Court in Sydney, Judge Peter Zahra discharged the jury after hearing evidence from two accused men, one of their solicitors and the jury forewoman, who admitted that she and four other jurors had been diverting themselves in the jury box by playing the popular numbers game.

More than 20 police gave evidence in the case, in which the two accused faced a common charge of conspiracy to manufacture a commercial quantity of amphetamines. One faced further firearms and drug possession indictments. The prosecution and defence were due to deliver final addresses to the jury this week.

But last week, as one of the accused was giving evidence, he saw the jury forewoman playing what he thought was Sudoku. His co-accused saw it too, and the defence counsel, Adam Morison and Michael Coroneos, made a joint application for a discharge.

Yesterday Judge Zahra took unsworn evidence from the forewoman in which she confirmed the accused men's suspicions.

She said four or five jurors had brought in the Sudoku sheets and photocopied them to play during the trial and then compare their results during meal breaks.

She admitted to having spent more than half of her time in court playing the game. The trial, which started on March 4, has cost more than $1 million, including counsels' fees, staff wages and court running costs for 60 days of hearings. Judge Zahra, who had previously commended the jury for its apparent diligence, told the forewoman that the Sudoku players had let down their fellow jurors and all involved in the trial.

There is no offence under the NSW Jury Act for playing games or being inattentive to a degree that causes a trial to be abandoned.

Mr Morison said it was "extraordinary that 105 witnesses, including 20 police, had been in the witness box and not seen what was happening". He called on the NSW Sheriff's Office to update its guidelines to inform jurors that it was unacceptable to play games during a trial.

The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions must now decide whether to recommence the proceedings against the men.