A prison sentence in 1670 could easily turn to a death sentence due to the horrific conditions prisoners were kept in - not even the most ardent Daily Mail reader could claim the cons had it too cosy. Yet this fearful fate is exactly what jurors on one Old Bailey case risked. Their ordeal began when they refused to bend to the will of judges determined to imprison two Quakers who had been preaching outside an Anglican church. During the Restoration period this had the potential to be a crime due to the numerous acts passed to ensure dominance of the Church of England. William Penn and William Mead were charged with 'unlawful assembly' but the jury, showing more religious tolerance than Parliament, found them guilty of the perfectly legal action of speaking in the street. Despite several attempts to bully the 12 men into changing their verdict they stood firm. After two days confined to the court without food or water they still would not yield, resulting in the enraged bench sending them to the notorious Newgate Prison. The men were only released after foreman Edward Bushel appealed to the Chief Justice, a move which secured the jurors' freedom as well as publicly cementing the most basic principle of justice.
