"Nature, thou art my goddess". Paul Powlesland was not far off quoting Shakespeare when he became probably the first juror in history to swear a legal oath on a river. Jurors are either required ...

Paul Powlesland, 38, took the oath at a major London crown court with his fingers dipped into a cup of water taken from the river Roding, in Barking, east London, where he lives on a houseboat.

The 38-year-old lives on a boat on the Roding, the third-largest river in London. He is the founder of the River Roding Trust, a charity that works to clean and preserve the river.