The double-murderer jailed at retrial after drunken jury members contacted killer's victim using a o

In 1994 a judge ordered a retrial in a high profile murder case after the jury used a ouija board to contact one of the murder victims while they were staying overnight in a hotel.

In the unprecedented move the Court of Appeal in London decided that convicted double-killer Stephen Young should face a new trial due to the actions of some members of the jury at a hotel in Brighton.

In 1994, after a five-week trial Stephen Young was found guilty of murdering Harry, a car dealer, and his wife Nicola Fuller in a gruesome killing in their home in Wadhurst, East Sussex, in February 1993.

Harry, 45, was shot and killed by a single bullet in his back and His 27-year old-wife Nicole was shot 4 times.

The first trial in Hove heard how the killer Young, a gun enthusiast, attacked the pair as part of a plot to steal money for his own spiralling debts.

According to The Independent, there were cheers from the public gallery at Hove Crown Court as the conviction was read out while Young sat in the dock shaking his head.

At the time the lead police investigator on the case, Mr Hill said: "There was relief the case was finished.

"Obviously all people that are involved in the prosecution were pleased the verdict was one of guilty, because there's...as you can imagine, a huge amount of work goes into that."

However one month later everything the prosecution and the police had achieved in convicting, at the time, 35-year-old was turned upside down.

Plastered across the front of the News of the World paper it read, "Murder Jury's Ouija Board Verdict".

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According to the publication a member of the jury named as Adrian, 24, said that four jurors had tried to contact the dead the night before the verdict had been announced.

Using a wine glass and a piece of paper the group reportedly communicated with a spirit who claimed to be Harry Fuller, who told the jurors "Stephen Young did it" and "vote guilty tomorrow".

In October 1994 Stephen Young, of Pembury in Kent, was granted a retrial which would be held at the Old Bailey in London.

Lord Taylor, the Lord Chief Justice, made the decision after hearing arguments from both sides.

The prosecution tried to argue that the court should not 'elevate a drunken experiment' to suggest it influenced proceedings, but ultimately they failed to convince the judge and a second trial was ordered..

Thankfully the retrial did not change the outcome and Stephen Young was eventually convicted and sentenced for the couples' murder in December 1994.

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Abbie Anker

Update: 2024-06-09

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