Googling juror 'attacked system of justice'
A juror found in contempt of court for Googling about a case has been told that he had attacked the system of justice.
Martyn Greig was serving on a jury at the High Court at Aberdeen when he searched for articles relating to the case.
He told fellow jurors what he had done, but did not reveal any details to them.
Greig was ordered by judge Johanna Johnston QC to perform 170 hours unpaid work in the community.
The accused in the case in which Greig was a juror was later jailed for three years for sexual offences.
Greig's defence counsel David Nicolson said: "He knew that he was not to go on any social media, but says he wasn't aware of the consequences.
"He accepts he was told at least twice not to do it.
"He disrupted the business of the court that day and into the following day. He now appreciates how serious that was."
Judge Johnston told self-employed father-of-two Greig that his actions were "extremely foolish" and said: "You put yourself close to a situation where you could have gone to custody.
"If you had put the trial off, the reality is it would have been a very difficult job to persuade me not to jail you.
"By good fortune you didn't reveal anything that damaged the course of justice."
Greig was ordered to carry out the unpaid work within six months.