Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

NOT FUCKING NOW JURY SERVICE FFS

113 replies

RozHuntleysLeftHand · 31/03/2022 21:01

Me and ex and have split up.
I'm literally so stressed about money I'm throwing up.
I'm about a week from being evicted and......

A Jury Summons shows up this afternoon.

I know they're not psychic, and in many other periods of my life I would have done it with pride? Not sure if that's the right word but I am a strong believer in justice.

But bloody hell the timing!!

OP posts:
GrandTheftWalrus · 31/03/2022 21:40

I deferred last year as I had a young baby and a 5yo and dh was nightshift. It was also changed to a cinema that was 2hrs away rather than the court that was 20 mins away. My dh would've had to call off work to be home to take dd to school and be with baby and he wouldn't have got paid.

If it had been at the court 20 mins away he'd have been home by 7.30am and I'd have left at 8.30am whereas I'd have had to leave at 7am for the cinema.

BuanoKubiamVej · 31/03/2022 21:40

You can defer once - assuming you haven't been summoned before which you surely would have mentioned in your op, it's fine to say you just can't cope with this now and put it off but that's only for a limited time so it will come back sooner or later and you may not be in any better a place.

Ambition9to5 · 31/03/2022 21:41

Write the letter and then hope for the best.

If they don't let you defer, maybe you will think, ok, my problems aren't so bad! Maybe. Don't mean to be flippant.

I'm a single parent and got summonsed a few times when my DC were tiny and I had no money for indefinite childcare.

Now my DC are older (one is a 'adult' well, 18) I'd love to do it!!

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 31/03/2022 21:42

Honestly, even with a dark and heavy case, actually doing jury service was a great change of pace.

I sat and read, played on their pool table, got a hot lunch etc. 4 days in I was picked and actually it was a real escape from life to sit and absorb a big event that had happened to someone like that. I took it really seriously, it was so so important to get it right, but I didn't find that stressful.

Totally get why you would defer though and give it a try. I deferred mine as I was a week into a new job and didn't want them to just go "jeez she's been here 5 days and already off for 3 weeks".

KeepYaHeadUp · 31/03/2022 21:48

@Dontfuckingsaycheese

Why don’t they offer it to people who want to do it? I would love to be on a jury!! It could still be random - just random selection from a bank of willing volunteers!!
They offer it to everyone - that's the point. If it was just people who wanted to it wouldn't be remotely representative.
WirlyWillowtree · 31/03/2022 21:50

I had no childcare as a single mum for when it was scheduled, I asked to defer to a date in school holidays and never was asked again.

ididntevennotice · 31/03/2022 21:50

@KeepYaHeadUp

It's not an offer though, is it?

I got out of mine when it came up because I'm autistic. I just emailed them and got a reply straight away.

TheHoptimist · 31/03/2022 21:51

I assume all the people saying it’s a breeze are not self employed

No way most people can afford to be a juror on £64.95 a day

FloralsForSpring · 31/03/2022 21:51

It's fine just write down as much detail as you wish to divulge and offer a future date

TroysMammy · 31/03/2022 21:52

I was eager to do mind in January. Because of covid rules I just needed to wait for them to contact me to go in the next day. I then had a text "you have been discharged from Jury duty, thank you and please complete this survey about your experience" . Never got time off work and didn't have any experience. Miffed that I wasn't special enough to be chosen.

Fuuuuuckit · 31/03/2022 21:52

@nalabae

You’re being tested
Does op get a certificate for battling all the shit at once?

What utter bolllcks. Its crap op. Ask to defer if you can.

KeepYaHeadUp · 31/03/2022 21:55

@ididntevennotice - well no, I was using the previous poster's wording ("why don't they offer it to people who want to do it..."). They do. And to people who don't.

lhjjhdjsdhkshdbc · 31/03/2022 21:56

You can ask to defer but it depends on the court. DH was called during an insanely busy time at work when he was leading on a major M&A deal. He was told that he could do his work in the evenings after jury service. OK, like there are enough hours in the day to do that Hmm

FarCrowds · 31/03/2022 21:57

Swearing on threads stresses some of us out. Maybe think (about other people) before you shout and swear OP at us. Completely unnecessary.

BuanoKubiamVej · 31/03/2022 21:59

Mumsnet is a sweary place. Other forums exist where rude words are frowned upon and delicate sensibilities are protected.

Fuuuuuckit · 31/03/2022 22:02

@FarCrowds

Swearing on threads stresses some of us out. Maybe think (about other people) before you shout and swear OP at us. Completely unnecessary.
Perhaps mumsnet, and a post about the potential actual horrors of what jurors are potentially going to experience, is not the best place for you to be at bedtime.

Don't have nightmares Hmm

RobertsRadio · 31/03/2022 22:03

@FarCrowds

Swearing on threads stresses some of us out. Maybe think (about other people) before you shout and swear OP at us. Completely unnecessary.
If you don't like the swearing, Mumsnet is not the place for you. Try Netmums, it sounds like that would be a better fit for you.
WildHorsesRunInMe · 31/03/2022 22:03

@FarCrowds

Swearing on threads stresses some of us out. Maybe think (about other people) before you shout and swear OP at us. Completely unnecessary.
Oh jesus christ
resuwen · 31/03/2022 22:04

I would have absolutely have LOVED to do jury service at literally any point during my adult life so far...except the window when I was EBF, which is when the summons arrived. 🙄

AuraBora · 31/03/2022 22:04

Totally understand why you feel the way you do. I too would imagine you can defer.
My husband got summoned late last year - self-employed and with baby due in Jan and me going on mat leave. Far from ideal.
He explained the situation and got out if it...altho as pp said he had to give 3 alternative starting dates for the next 12 months. Hoping not to hear again. The daily allowance, as PP said is pittance...

ididntevennotice · 31/03/2022 22:05

@FarCrowds

Swearing on threads stresses some of us out. Maybe think (about other people) before you shout and swear OP at us. Completely unnecessary.

This is one of these situations where personal responsibility applies. If you get stressed out by people swearing on threads you need to be seeking out forums that do not allow swearing.

WonderfulYou · 31/03/2022 22:05

Yeah it feels (stupidly) like fate just went "here, have something else to stress about as well"

I would see it as something to keep your mind off of everything else.

Do you work?
My employer said I had to defer mine due to low staff and I’m a key worker which they accepted and then I had to give a date within the next 12 months that I’d be free and I will have to attend.

If you definitely don’t want to do it and you don’t think you have an excuse with your job then I would ring up and explain that you don’t actually know where you’ll be living so you won’t have a permanent home address so can you defer it for 6-12months so you can move first as surely they need to contact you by letter.

Neongoddess · 31/03/2022 22:06

My mum asked to defer as she was having an operation. It was 5 years before they called her again.

However, she was trying to defer again as she is was disabled and it wasnt going to be good for her health. However, they said no.

RobertsRadio · 31/03/2022 22:06

I like the fucking swearing!

Neongoddess · 31/03/2022 22:07

Sorry forgot to say I am assuming the refusal was because they deferred before. I would imagine they would allow a refusal for you at the moment.