A trial at Norwich Crown Court has made history becoming one of the first to have a deaf juror relying on sign language.
Paul, 41, served on the jury of a serious sexual assault case last month supported by British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.
It meant he heard all the evidence, cross examination and judge's comments via interpretation.
He was also appointed the jury foreperson, the spokesperson responsible for announcing the verdict in court.
It follows changes brought in through the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act allowing BSL interpreters into the jury deliberation room - the first time a thirteenth person has been allowed to be present while a case is being discussed.
It is expected that this will open up jury service to more than 80,000 deaf people across England and Wales.
Three interpreters - Alison, Byron and Tina – who rotated every 20 minutes, supported Paul throughout the trial, so he was able to communicate with the other jurors and follow proceedings in court.
He said: "When the law changed to allow the deaf/BSL community to sit on a jury, and I received my summons, naturally I was excited but nervous as I did not know what to expect.
“It was a surreal experience and the whole process was streamlined and smooth. The training was clear and easy to follow, then the trial began, and I was amazed that I was treated equally to other jurors.”
He was “honoured” to be selected as the foreperson and had found it a “very empowering experience”, he added.
The Norwich trial was the first outside London. It took place a few weeks after a juror called Karen became the first deaf person to complete jury service with a BSL interpreter at Croydon Crown Court, deliberating over a racially aggravated harassment case.
David Buxton, chair of the British Deaf Association, said: “This represents a crucial and long overdue step forward in the equality, inclusion and participation of deaf people in our democracy, combined with the BSL Act – which passed on the same day in April 2022 – recognising British Sign Language as a language of Great Britain in law for the first time.”
Mark Atkinson, chief executive at national hearing loss charity RNID, said: “This move will allow tens of thousands of deaf people who use BSL as their first language to take part in jury service, a duty which all of us should have a responsibility to undertake.”
Paul said it had always been a dream to do his civil duty as part of jury service and that the deaf/BSL community “has so much to offer”.
“The judge requested feedback from me on how to improve for future cases and expressed a strong desire to make sure Norwich Crown Court is accessible and fair for all. I was deeply touched by this,” he added.
Justice minister Gareth Johnson said: “We are breaking down the barriers for deaf people carrying out jury service, ensuring they can fully and equally participate in court proceedings.”
Sign of the times - what is BSL?
British Sign Language is a rich combination of hand gestures, facial expressions and body language and, like English, has its own grammar, syntax and lexicons.
It is used by both people who have been deaf all their lives and those who have developed severe hearing problems.
In BSL, one sign using movement of the hands, body, face, and head can often represent what would be an entire sentence in English. On the other hand, some English words do not have a sign equivalent.
Until the 1970s deaf children were discouraged and even punished for signing and forced to learn finger-spelling and lip-reading.
But BSL started to be broadcast regularly on television in the 1980s making signs visible to the whole nation.
It was finally recognised as an official minority language in the UK in 2003.
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