Jurors ‘risk trauma from gruesome evidence’ as mock trial reveals nearly half met threshold for PTSD symptoms

Jurors who hear disturbing evidence could need counselling, according to academics.

They carried out a mock trial based on a real case and found that nearly half of jurors met the threshold for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study involved 180 people acting as jurors in a fictitious murder trial who filled in a survey outlining their stress symptoms.

They were divided into groups and shown evidence, including autopsy photographs revealing injuries to the victim’s skull. 

The jurors were then asked to fill in a diary for seven days, with researchers looking at symptoms like intrusive thoughts and stress.

Jurors who hear disturbing evidence may need counselling, a study has shown, after nearly half of participants in a mock trial showed symptoms of PTSD (file photo)

Before the study led by Manchester Metropolitan University, 11 per cent of the mock jurors had shown PTSD symptoms.

But this rose to 44 per cent after they had seen the evidence.

The researchers called for the wider roll-out of a pilot scheme offering six free counselling sessions to jurors at 15 crown courts.