Pictures reduced jurors to tears

Pictures reduced jurors to tears

From the archive, first published Tuesday 23rd Oct 2001.

The man wiped tears from his eyes, his face reddening as each photograph was handed to him.

It was the first time the jury in the John Smith case had seen the little boy's injuries close up.

The man paused to examine each horrific image before passing the Polaroids on.

His neighbour took off his glasses and hid his face in his hands for almost a minute.

One man shook his head slowly from side to side and then stared accusingly at the defendants as they sat just yards away in the dock.

Curiously perhaps, it was the four women on the jury who showed the least emotion.

Judge Anthony Scott Gall asked the jurors to take their time. He studied their faces, checking for any undue distress that might warrant an adjournment.

The stark pictures were passed along the two benches in court number one.

They saw the boy as he lay naked on a bed at Kings College Hospital, London, his battered body lifeless and limp. There were close-ups of bite marks, bruises on each limb and around his face.

Massive bruising on his head identified impact marks from blows which had propelled his brain to the opposite side of his skull. The collision with bone caused a haemorrhage that killed him.

John looked at peace, his angelic face showing none of the pain he surely suffered.

The jury could only imagine the torment he went through.