Mums on magic mushrooms: Why parents are ‘microdosing’ Class A drug

Published

1 year ago

February 11, 2024

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When Ella* gets up in the morning, she often starts her day with a Class A drug before breakfast. A cup of tea and a small capsule of magic mushroom “dust”, before taking her three children to school and carrying on with her day.

The 36-year-old, who lives in Buckinghamshire, says she is not tripping as she waves them goodbye. Rather, she is one of a number of parents microdosing hallucinogens, which she believes eases the stresses of modern life.

“I’m a better parent,” Ella claims of her psychedelic use. She says she feels calmer, happier, less anxious, less likely to catastrophise when things don’t go to plan. “I’m more present, I interact with my children better. Rather than me trying to just keep it together as a mother, it’s now quality time.”

Psychedelics have been gaining mainstream attention in recent years. In the US, where psilocybin – the naturally occurring compound in magic mushrooms – has been legalised for medicinal use in some states, there are several online communities for parents which have sprung up online.

Illegal in the UK – although there are calls from some quarters for restrictions to be eased – a rise in interest here is in no small part down to microdosing, defined as taking tiny doses “below the perceptual threshold” that “do not impair normal functioning”.

The number of people aged 16 to 59 using the drug in England and Wales is estimated to have more than doubled in the past decade, from 119,000 in the year ending March 2014 to 279,000 in 2023, according to the latest Office for National Statistics research. Since 2020 alone there has been a rise of 68%, from around 166,000.

Health and legal risks

But there are potentially serious consequences should you be caught. As a Class A drug in the UK, the maximum penalty for possession is up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. The maximum penalty for supply or production is life in prison.

Taking them in larger quantities can have serious effects. Frank, the anti-drug advisory service, warns magic mushrooms can make you feel “paranoid, anxious, overwhelmed” and can cause dizziness, sickness and stomach pains, while the NHS lists them among the drugs that can trigger psychotic episodes.

“I had visual disturbances for a few days afterwards one time,” one user told Sky News, talking about a larger dose of mushrooms rather than microdosing. “Fortunately, it went away. But it was horrible. I was sober, I knew what I was doing, but the effects were awful.”

And one microdoser shared how her initial experiences made her feel “less anxious” and happier, but after upping her dose she felt down and less in control of her emotions.

‘Being a mum is amazing – but it can be hard’

On microdosing, scientists say the illegal status of the drug has prevented serious research on the topic specifically and what the long-term negative effects may be, while separate placebo studies for microdosing both psilocybin and LSD have found that users’ expectations are behind at least some of the anecdotal benefits.

But many magic mushroom microdosers claim it has improved their lives.

Ella says she found herself drinking more and taking drugs recreationally following the end of a relationship. Life as a single parent was hard. “My kids were fed and clothed but I was emotionally disconnected. Most days I would get them off to school and go back to bed and cry.”

During the pandemic, she realised she needed to make a change. After meeting her current partner, they looked into microdosing mushrooms and started taking very small doses for what she says are calming effects, rather than full hallucinogenic trips. She now takes a small capsule on a few mornings each week, with a few days off.

She says the couple have done their research and claims “there’s no way I could accidentally take too much”. She is happy to keep her capsules at home and says she treats them as she would any substance that might potentially be harmful, making sure they’re “not lying around for the children to pick up”.

Ella, like most of the parents I spoke to for this article, did not want to give her real name. “Being a mum’s not bad – it’s amazing – but it can be hard… and psychedelics have helped me as a parent massively,” said one. “But I’m a single mum – and it is a drug. It’s frustrating as it’s something I’m passionate about, but I can’t risk [speaking publicly about it].”

‘I feel more in tune’

But Molly Gunn, a mother of three from Somerset (pictured above), is open about having microdosed, saying she first tried it about five years ago.

She says she has taken tiny doses, sometimes when her children were present, and chose to try it as an alternative to alcohol, using drops once or twice a week during periods of taking a break from drinking wine; she gives little away about how she has obtained them, simply saying: “I know someone who knows someone.”

While one experience left her in tears – “I just cried and cried… like I had loads of emotions to get out” – Molly says others have been happy. “I’ve had family dinners and laughed so much, tears streaming down my face, because my kids are so funny. I remember turning to my husband and I was like, ‘are they always this funny?'”

Some microdosers say the effects are similar to a small glass of wine, while Ella says they are more subtle. Others compare the feeling to the buzz from a strong cup of coffee. “I just felt quite relaxed and mellow, happy,” says Molly. “You feel more in tune with what’s going on around you. So when my kids are around, it made me more in tune with them.”

While she knows it is not without risk legally, she says she is not worried as she is taking very small amounts – and wants to speak out in the hope that attitudes – and the law – may shift. In fact, the thing she was most worried about was her parents knowing. “But it turned out that my mum said that nothing surprises her these days,” she says. “She was more worried that I would pick some mushrooms that were poisonous myself.”

‘No drug is without risks’

However, Harry Sumnall, professor of substance use at Liverpool John Moores University’s Public Health Institute, warns some users who believe they are microdosing may be taking more than they think, and that even low psychedelic doses can affect memory, cognition, and behaviour.

“Overdosing is easy without the right equipment and with an unfamiliar or new batch of drugs,” he says, adding that experiences can also be affected by a person’s personality, mental health, “and setting of use”, as well as dosage. The effects can be “unpredictable”, so while some may have positive experiences, “that doesn’t mean all psychedelic experiences will be like this”.

No drug is without risks, he warns, but says a “balanced assessment is that psilocybin mushrooms at low doses are relatively less harmful” than most other drugs taken in the UK. However, he points out that the drug is illegal to possess, sell, or even share with others, “regardless of the amount”, and a drugs conviction can in serious cases lead to social services getting involved if children are perceived to be at risk from parental drug use.

“Purchasing drugs through illicit markets is also risky in itself,” he adds. “There is no quality control of products, and mis-selling, contamination, and substitution may mean exposure to potentially more harmful substances.”

One condition reported by some users of magic mushrooms is hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), which causes visual disturbances and flashbacks even after the effects of a drug have worn off. The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research is currently conducting a study of people with symptoms to help understand the condition better, and the risk factors.

It is considered to be relatively rare, and experts say it is more likely to be caused by other drugs such as ecstasy or LSD, but warn the potential risk is there with mushrooms too. Sometimes the HPPD symptoms can be brief, for others they can be long-lasting.

In April last year, hikers who took magic mushrooms in the Lake District had to be saved by mountain rescuers after some of the group fell ill.

And there are other ways in which hallucinogens can potentially be dangerous – in July, a father in Burnley was given a suspended sentence after his children ate brownies containing magic mushrooms and had to be detained in hospital until the effects had worn off. In October, a US court heard that an off-duty pilot who allegedly tried to shut down a plane’s engines during a flight told police after his arrest he had taken psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.

But there have been several studies in recent years highlighting the potential benefits of larger doses of psilocybin for those with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, anorexia and alcohol abuse.

‘You have to do it safely’

Some of those lauding the positive effects of microdosing psilocybin are parents. Jo*, who used to live in the US, is a mum-of-three who has also microdosed, including on family days out, on occasion.

“I’m sure people frown on that but if you know what you’re doing it can be a mind-expanding experience,” she says. Although it’s not something she would ever discuss at the school gates. “No, no, no!” she laughs.

“It makes you less irritated by certain things,” says Alice, who is in her 40s and from east London. “I had my daughter after a long life of being independent and I found it really hard to surrender to motherhood. I’m alone with her most of the time and have to be everything to her, which I find extremely difficult.”

She also started during the pandemic and now goes through phases, she says, sometimes doing it a lot, other times not at all.

Alice is aware she has a responsibility as a parent and takes pains to hide her supply from her daughter. “Some of it is in chocolate form. If she found it she would eat the whole thing and end up talking to the ceiling,” she laughs. “You have to be organised and do it safely.”

And in the US, former comedian and mum-of-one Tracey Tee launched a group for mothers interested in microdosing mushrooms just under two years ago and now has more than 1,000 private members and more than 18,000 followers on Instagram, including many from the UK and other countries.

Tracey, who lives in Colorado, where psilocybin was legalised for medicinal use in 2022, has just received messages from two grandmothers – “one is 85 and one is 80” – when we speak.

‘A deeper connection’

Dr Anna Ross, co-founder of the Scottish Psychedelic Research Group, as well as a university lecturer, philosopher and researcher who advocates for the use of plant medicine in supporting mental and physical health, says she wants to break the stigma.

Each autumn, she heads out to the “sheep hills and grassy knolls” to pick her annual supply of liberty cap mushrooms, the most common type found in the UK. She has taken her children foraging with her, mushroom book in hand, as “a way to engage them with autumn” – although as they get older they are less interested in getting filthy for fungi.

She has no concerns her kids might want to sneak a taste, saying they hate mushrooms and in “no way” would want to eat a “slimy” one from the ground. And she would never take large amounts around her children.

What she aims to do, through her work and the research group, is offer a different narrative about psychedelics, which are typically either talked about in conjunction with their connection with indigenous communities in South America, or seen as a “new drug” to help with mental health problems.

There is a long history of people in the UK using psychedelics “not necessarily for healing, but just for enjoyment – a deeper connection with nature, a deeper connection with their community and their friends”, she says, pointing out that it was legal to pick fresh magic mushrooms in the UK until the government’s Drugs Act came into force in 2005.

Despite her work, she is acutely aware she is talking about a Class A drug, not a panacea, and would not advocate it for everyone. “My honest and authentic feeling is that if they’re taken at the wrong time, or with the wrong people, in the wrong place or with the wrong intentions, it can result in it all going wrong,” she says. “What ‘going wrong’ means is different to different people, but there is a chance of harm.”

More research needed – on potential positives and negatives

Professor David Nutt, head of the neuropsychopharmacology centre at Imperial College London, is another expert who says the illegal status of magic mushrooms in the UK has prevented serious research on the topic of microdosing. Professor Allan Young, head of academic psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, agrees there is little formal research and says the anecdotal benefits have not been proved.

“The trials we run at King’s use synthetic psilocybin compounds and are conducted in controlled therapeutic environments with trained professionals on hand to minimise the impact of adverse events,” he says. “In recreational settings, like any drug sourced through non-official means, the user does not necessarily know what they are taking and can easily find themselves in trouble if they experience unexpectedly severe side effects.”

But the parents we spoke to said they would be happy to teach their children about them when they are old enough. “I tell my children that when they grow up, if they want to take mushrooms, I’m fully supportive of that,” says Molly.

“One day, when it’s appropriate – when they’re adults – I will speak to my children about it,” Ella agrees. “I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

*Names have been changed

Entertainment

Cassie tells court ‘freak offs’ became like a job as she alleges years of abuse by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Published

3 hours ago

May 14, 2025

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Cassie tells court 'freak offs' became like a job as she alleges years of abuse by Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s former girlfriend Cassie has told his sex-trafficking trial that “freak offs” with male escorts became like a job, as the music mogul allegedly abused and sexually exploited her for years.

The musician and model, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, did not look at Combs as she took to the witness stand in court in Manhattan, New York.

Over about six hours, the 38-year-old, who is eight months pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine, at times became emotional as she alleged she was degraded by her former partner during their 10-year on-off relationship.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 2 – As it happened

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty and strenuously denied allegations of sexual abuse. His lawyers argue that although he could be violent, he never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering, and that all sexual encounters were consensual.

Ms Ventura, who is the central witness in the prosecutors’ case, began by telling the jury how Combs was violent to her over the course of their relationship, giving her black eyes and bruises.

The hip-hop star became increasingly controlling, she said, and was allegedly abusive over the smallest perceived slights. “You make the wrong face, and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,” she said.

Ms Ventura was 19 when she signed to his label, Bad Boy, she said, and 22 when, during the first year of their relationship, Combs first proposed a “freak off” – a sexual encounter with a third party. Her “stomach churned”, she said, and she was “confused, nervous, but also loved him very much” and wanted to please him. She described him as “charming” but “polarising”.

‘There was no space to do anything else’

Throughout her time on the stand, she gave graphic details of these drug and drink-fuelled encounters with male escorts, saying Combs would watch and masturbate, and often record the encounters and watch the videos back.

They could last for hours or even days, she said – telling the court the longest went on for four days. They ended up becoming weekly events and took priority over her music career, jurors heard. While she had hits with singles Me & U and Long Way 2 Go in 2006, and signed a 10-album deal with Bad Boy, jurors heard she only released one album.

“Freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again,” Ms Ventura said. Each time, she added, she had to recuperate from lack of sleep, alcohol, drugs “and other substances”, and “having sex with a stranger for days”.

Alleged violence detailed in court

Ms Ventura told the court she began feeling as if she could not say no to Combs’s demands because “there were blackmail materials to make me feel like if I didn’t do it, it would be held over my head in that way or these things would become public”.

She was also worried about potential violence, she told the court. When asked in court how frequently Combs became violent with her, Ms Ventura responded: “Too frequently.”

The rapper “would mash me in the head, knock me over, drag me, kick me”, she said. “Stomp me in the head if I was down”.

Ms Ventura also told the court that Combs kept cash, jewellery, guns and “sometimes tapes from cameras” in safes at several properties in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Alpine, New Jersey.

“The guns came out here and there. I always felt it was a little bit of a scare tactic,” she told the court.

Towards the end of her first day of evidence, a surveillance video made public last year, which showed Combs allegedly beating Ms Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, was played to jurors in court for a second time.

“How many times has he thrown you like that before?” prosecutor Emily Johnson asked her.

“Too many to count,” Ms Ventura replied.

On Monday, prosecutors in their opening statement told the court that while Combs’s public persona was that of a “charismatic” hip-hop mogul, behind the scenes he was violent and abusive.

His defence lawyers argued that the case is really about nothing more than the rapper’s sexual preferences, which they said should remain private, and do not make him a sex trafficker.

The trial is to last about eight weeks.

Ms Ventura is set to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.

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Kim Kardashian feared she was going to die during Paris heist – and tells robber she forgives him

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Kim Kardashian feared she was going to die during Paris heist - and tells robber she forgives him

Kim Kardashian has told a court she feared she would be raped and killed during an armed robbery in Paris nearly 10 years ago.

The 44-year-old was tearful as she told the judge: “I was certain he was going to rape me.”

“I absolutely did think I was going to die,” she added.

“I said a prayer for my family, and for my sister who would walk in [and find me] and that they would have an OK life after what they saw.”

Kardashian told the court how one of the robbers pulled her across the bed, exposing her naked body under her hotel robe as he tied her up.

In a bizarre turn of events in the courtroom, three of the defendants offered messages to Kardashian – two in person and one via a written note. Kardashian had no knowledge of the letter until it was read in court and she tearfully said she forgave one of the robbers.

The men are accused of robbing her at gunpoint in a hotel in October 2016.

Kardashian arrived at court to confront the alleged robbers earlier in the day.

Wearing a black skirt suit, sunglasses, and with her hair pulled back into a chignon, Kardashian walked up the steps accompanied by her mother Kris and a large entourage.

She began by telling the court of her love for Paris, calling it a “magical place,” before becoming tearful when describing the robbery, and talking of her “confusion” when two men entered her room dressed as police officers, accompanied by the handcuffed concierge.

“I had fallen asleep naked with a robe on, I was flustered,” she told the court.

‘From fatherly to aggressive’

Describing the man who tied her up, who she says was “smaller and stockier” than the second man with the gun, Kardashian said: “I feel like because the guy who tied me up could see how frantic I was, at that moment he felt like a father… It felt like he wanted me to know that I’d be OK if I just shut up.”

She tells the court: “I kept telling them I have babies and I need to get home to my babies.”

But, after the men began arguing in French, the previously “fatherly” man went from saying she’d be OK, “to aggressively grabbing my naked body”.

Asked by the judge if she was hit at any point, Kardashian said: “No, I was not hit. I was picked up and dragged and dropped on the hard floor, but I was not hit.” She later confirms she was dragged by her arms, with both her ankles and wrists bound together, and with a gun held towards her neck.

Police say the men escaped on bicycles, with around $9m of jewellery, including a $4m engagement ring from Kardashian’s then-husband Kanye West. Most of the jewellery was never recovered.

‘Your forgiveness is the sun – I’ll be forever grateful’

During her evidence, the judge read a statement to Kardashian written by one of the defendants, Aomar Ait Khedache, 68, nicknamed “Old Omar” – in which he said he “regretted” his actions and had been touched by his conscience. He has so far communicated in court only via handwritten notes, saying he’s too unwell to talk.

He’s previously admitted to participating in the heist but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was the ringleader.

When asked by the judge if she had a response, Kardashian said: “I’m obviously emotional about it, this experience changed my life and it changed my family’s life”.

Currently in training to be a lawyer, and a vocal criminal justice reform advocate, she said: “I have always believed in second chances… I try to have empathy always.”

She went on: “I do appreciate the letter, I forgive you for what has taken place, but it doesn’t change the emotion and the feelings and the trauma the way my life is forever changed.” She thanked him for his letter.

Ait Khedache’s lawyer shared his response to Kardashian’s words, saying: “This forgiveness is a sun that comes to illuminate me, thank you.” He added, I’ll be grateful to you forever”.

The judge then spoke to two defendants in the courtroom, starting with Yunice Abbas, 71, who has previously admitted his part in the heist.

Abbas stood and spoke directly to Kardashian, his right hand shaking from Parkinson’s as he talked, asking for “forgiveness” and saying he too had “regret” for what he did.

In 2021, Abbas wrote a book titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, but the court has ruled he would not financially benefit from its sale.

A third defendant, Didier Dubreucq, 69, dubbed “blue eyes” by French press, also briefly spoke and offered a few contrite words, saying, “I am very sorry about what happened to you”, adding, ” I empathise with your pain”.

‘A sound I had never heard – terror’

Earlier on Tuesday, in Paris’s central criminal court, Kardashian’s stylist Simone Harouche described the moment she was woken by the US star’s screams of terror and feared she had been “raped or violated”.

Ms Harouche, 45, who says she has worked for Kardashian for many years and has been friends with her since she was 12, told the court she was woken by “a sound I had never heard from Kim… It was terror”.

Sleeping in a separate apartment, on the next floor down from Kardashian’s, she went on: “What I heard specifically was [Kim saying], ‘I have babies and I need to live – that is what she kept saying… Take everything. I need to live'”.

She told the judge: “When I realised something terrible was going on upstairs and I realised it was not friends [in Kim’s room], I started looking for my telephone and I started looking for something to help save mine and Kim’s life.”

She went on to lock herself in her bathroom and hide in her shower, where she called Kardashian’s sister Kourtney and texted her security guard, Pascal Duvier, telling them, “Something is very wrong… Kim is upstairs with men and we need help.”

She says minutes later, Kardashian “hopped” into her room, explaining: “To see my friend with her feet taped and a very light robe with nothing under, and all messed up and pulled, I thought she could have been raped or very violated.”

She said she removed the tape from Kardashian’s feet, and her friend was “beside herself”, adding, “I’ve never seen her like that before. She was screaming, ‘We need to get out, what do we do if they come back? We need to jump from the first floor, we need to get out'”.

Later, when questioned by the lawyer of one of the defendants on why she did not come out of the bathroom, she said: “I’m the kind of person to hide, [Kardashian’s] the kind of person to take care of other people.”

‘Just because a woman wears jewellery, doesn’t make her a target’

When asked by the judge whether she or Kardashian had believed at the time that wearing and sharing images of such expensive jewellery would be a risk, Ms Harouche says: “Just because a woman wears jewellery doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying because a woman wears a short skirt she deserves to be raped”.

She went on to say: “I think that that moment changed [Kardashian’s] life forever… In terms of security, she doesn’t go alone to places anymore.”

Following the robbery, Ms Harouche says she quit her job as a stylist as the experience “made me fearful of all the things that could happen to celebrities, and being around them”.

Asking for ‘forgiveness’

At the end of her time in the witness stand, the judge attempted to play a video message from one of the defendants, Yunice Abbas.

A tech issue meant the message would not play, so instead, the judge read out the statement from Mr Abbas, asking for “forgiveness” for his actions. When asked by the judge if she had a reaction to the apology, Ms Harouche answered, “No”.

The trial, which is being held in front of three judges and six jury members, is due to conclude at the end of this week.

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: What we know about the 12 members of the jury

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial: What we know about the 12 members of the jury

The outcome of the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking trial is in the hands of the 12 individuals who have been selected as jurors.

On Monday, the group of jurors – made up of eight men and four women – listened to opening statements from the prosecution and defence as the trial got underway in Manhattan, New York.

The 55-year-old hip-hop mogul has strenuously denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty to five charges.

They are: One count of racketeering conspiracy, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Members of the jury range in age from 30 to 74, coming from different neighbourhoods across New York, and from a wide range of professions.

Here is everything we know about the group tasked with deciding the outcome of the high-profile case.

How were jurors selected?

The 12 individuals were whittled down from a pool of 45 prospective jurors last week.

During the selection process, each individual was questioned by Judge Arun Subramanian in a legal process known as “voir dire” – translated from French as “to speak the truth”.

The process aims to find a panel of 12 main jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial.

That has been a particularly sensitive issue in this trial, given Combs’ celebrity status as an entrepreneur and rap mogul and the worldwide coverage of the case so far.

Jurors were quizzed about their hobbies and musical tastes, with some of the younger jurors in their 30s and 40s saying they listen to hip-hop and R&B music – genres that are closely associated with Combs.

They were also asked if they had any views on the prosecution or the defence, if they or someone close to them had been a victim of crime, and their beliefs on hiring sex workers, the use of illegal drugs, hip-hop artists and law enforcement.

Judge Subramanian then asked jurors whether they had heard of names included on a list of individuals, including celebrities, who may be mentioned during the trial. The list is long, the court heard, with the judge saying it reminded him of Lord Of The Rings.

As jury selection unfolded, Combs sat in court wearing a white shirt with a black crew-neck sweater, grey trousers and glasses. He appeared to express his approval or disapproval at each individual, either with a nod or by shaking his head no, to his attorneys.

Read more about how jury selection unfolded in court here.

What to know about those selected

The individuals selected to sit on the jury include an investment analyst, a healthcare worker, a massage therapist and a deli worker, according to Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.

When called for jury duty, potential jurors are allocated a number, which allows the court to keep track of the individuals and ensures a random selection process.

Here is everything we know about those selected for Combs’s trial:

• Juror no 2: A 69-year-old male from Manhattan who works as an actor and massage therapist. He listens to classical, jazz and rock music, and his hobbies include music, theatre, cycling and hiking.

• Juror no 5: A 31-year-old male from Manhattan who works as an investment analyst. He enjoys playing sports and video games.

• Juror no 25: A 51-year-old male from Manhattan who has a PhD in molecular biology and neuroscience. He listens to classical music and opera, and his hobbies include art, science, cooking and the outdoors.

• Juror no 28: A 30-year-old female from the New York state of the Bronx, who works in a deli. She listens to hip-hop and reggaeton and enjoys reading and playing video games.

• Juror no 55: A 42-year-old female from Manhattan who is an aide in a nursing home. She likes to cook and paint, and watch Harry Potter and Disney films.

• Juror no 58: A 41-year-old male from the Bronx who works in communications at a US prison. He listens to reggaeton and ’90s hip-hop, and his hobbies include sports and fantasy football.

• Juror no 75: A 68-year-old male from Westchester County, just north of New York City, who is a retired bank worker. He listens to Indian music and plays cricket and volleyball.

• Juror no 116: A 68-year-old male from Westchester County who is retired and used to work at a telecommunications company. He listens to rock music, and likes to bowl and play golf.

• Juror no 160: A 43-year-old female from Westchester County who works as a healthcare worker. She listens to R&B and hip-hop, and likes dancing.

• Juror no 184: A 39-year-old male from the Bronx who is a social worker. He listens to R&B and popular music from West Africa, and enjoys watching sports.

• Juror no 201: A 67-year-old male from Westchester County who works as a logistics analyst. His hobbies include woodworking and cycling.

• Juror no 217: A 74-year-old female from Manhattan who works as a treatment coordinator. She listens to classical music and likes to travel.

The six alternate jurors chosen include four men and two women, ranging in age from 24 to 71. Those individuals will hear the entire case but will only participate in the decision-making if one of the 12 main jurors cannot continue.

The trial is expected to last around eight weeks.