About
Stephen Hanvey is a postgraduate research student based in Southampton Law School at the University of Southampton, undertaking his study on a part-time basis.
Stephen’s study is on the under-researched area of the experience of jurors in Crown Court trials, focussing on the preparation they receive from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, and the support available afterwards. Recent years have seen a marked increase in trials of alleged childhood sexual abuse, both recent and non-recent, and the experience of listening to such distressing evidence needs to be better understood and addressed. The study looks at the feelings of those jurors summoned to serve in such trials, including in those circumstances when some jurors themselves may be survivors of such childhood abuse.