A juror convicted of contacting a defendant through social networking site Facebook has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
Joanne Fraill exchanged messages with defendant Jamie Sewart causing a multi-million pound drug trial to collapse last year.
British taxpayers were left picking up a bill of £6m (€6.8m) after the judge was forced to discharge the jury.
The case was heard by Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge - the head of the judiciary - who earlier this year allowed the authorised use of short messaging service Twitter in the reporting of some court cases.
At the time, Lord Judge warned that courts must be satisfied that live text reporting does not interfere with the proper administration of justice.
The use of the internet by jurors has already derailed several cases in countries such as the US.
When the Lord Chief Justice announced her eight-month sentence, Joanne Fraill said 'eight months!' and put her head on the table in front of her and cried.
Fraill, a mother-of-three with three stepchildren, sobbed uncontrollably with her head in her arms. The judge later announced a short adjournment 'for everyone to calm down'.
Sentencing Fraill, Lord Judge commented: 'Her conduct in visiting the internet repeatedly was directly contrary to her oath as a juror, and her contact with the acquitted defendant, as well as her repeated searches on the internet, constituted flagrant breaches of the orders made by the judge for the proper conduct of the trial.'
Jamie Sewart, the acquitted defendant, was given a two-month sentence suspended for two years after being found guilty of contempt.
