MINISTERS may use a little-known power to stop “woke jurors” blocking justice after the so-called Colston Four were cleared.
Attorney General Suella Braverman could ask the Court of Appeal to look into how the law was applied — and ask senior judges for “their opinion” on the verdict.
If the judges agree, future jurors could be given tighter advice, putting more emphasis on them disregarding “woke” defence arguments.
It comes after Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33, were acquitted of criminal damage.
The jury verdict came despite them admitting dumping a statue of 17th-century slaver Edward Colston in Bristol docks during a Black Lives Matter demo.
One source said: “The integrity of the jury system is under serious question.”
Ex-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said: “It is open to the prosecution to consider whether to make a reference to the Court of Appeal for clarity about the law.”
But he said he did not want to see courts become “political playgrounds”.
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He went on: “They’re not places for politics, they’re places for the law to be applied and for the evidence to be assessed.
"Sometimes we will get jury verdicts that fly in the face of the law and sometimes the evidence.
“That is the price we pay for the admirable system — the system of jury trials that I and many others strongly believe in.”
PM Boris Johnson admitted the nation has a “complex historical legacy”.
But he insisted: “What you can’t do is go around seeking retrospectively to change our history. It’s like some person trying to edit their Wikipedia entry. It’s wrong.”
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