Grynhaus Jury Told to Reach Unanimous Verdict

The JC
May 15, 2015

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/136405/grynhaus-jury-told-reach-unanimous-verdict

Todros Grynhaus

The judge in the trial of Todros Grynhaus has told the jury only an unanimous verdict will be accepted.

The panel have begun their deliberations after two weeks of evidence.

Mr Grynhaus, 50, a well-known figure in the Salford strictly Orthodox community, is accused of five counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault against two girls when they were aged around 14 and 15.

He denies the charges.

Mr Justice Holroyde warned the jury at Manchester Crown Court that only a verdict on which they all agreed would be acceptable, unless he directed otherwise.

Sending the jury out, he said: “You have as much time as you want, and as much time as you need.”

In a previous trial in February, the jury failed to come to verdict and a retrial was ordered.

Earlier in the current proceedings, Mr Grynhaus's father, Rabbi Dayan Dovid Grynhaus - a senior rabbi in the London strictly Orthodox community - told the court that sexual abuse in the Charedi community was ‘traditionally something that should be dealt with as sin, not something to be reported to the police’.

But he added that the view had changed in the last three or four years.

Giving evidence in defence of his son, he was asked what punishment would be issued for sexual abuse by the Charedi community. He said: “It would be seen he was never in a position to repeat such things. Safeguards would be put in place. Punishment would be a good dressing down by the Beth Din.”