Justice secretary's iPhone example 'precisely why jury trials should not be curbed' | Law Gazette

'If you steal an iPhone this afternoon in Currys, should you be able to opt to have a jury? The trial takes two days. Inevitably that will cause further delays for more serious and egregious comes like rape and murder,’ the deputy prime minister told BBC News.

However, Jason Lartey, president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association, said Lammy’s example illustrated why the right to a jury trial must not be diluted. Lartey said: ‘His comments make light of what can be an offence with very serious consequences for all. The wording itself assumes guilt, and that is the danger.