Judge comments on ‘hard work’ of jury which has spent more than 27 hours deliberating whether Wisbech murder suspect David Newton is guilty of murdering Una Crown

“I work on murder trials up and down the country, I can’t remember a case where I have seen a jury working harder,” were the words of the judge to a jury still undecided on David Newton’s guilt this afternoon.

The 12 members of the jury are still deciding whether Newton, 70, of Magazine Close in Wisbech, is guilty of murdering his elderly widowed neighbour Una Crown. She was murdered in her home around the corner from Newton’s on Magazine Lane in 2013.

Mrs Crown was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest. Her body was also set on fire.

After hearing evidence from prosecutor John Price KC and no evidence from Newton’s defence Henry Grunwald KC, the jury heard closing speeches from both parties as well as a summing up from Judge Justice Garnham.

The jury has now spent a total of 27 hours and 42 minutes deliberating Newton’s guilt after being sent out by Judge Garnham last Thursday morning.

Judge Justice Garnham told jurors on Monday that he would accept a 10-2 majority verdict.

The trial, which has entered its fifth week, has heard evidence from Mr Price that Newton’s DNA had been found on a fingernail clipping taken from Mrs Crown.

The 12 members of the jury came back into court this afternoon, when a foreman said, on the group’s behalf, that they have yet to agree on a verdict.

However, when asked this morning if they would struggle to come to a conclusion where at least 10 people agreed, they said they believed that they would eventually.

They have now left court for the day and will resume deliberating tomorrow morning.

Mrs Crown, a retired postmistress, was found dead by her nephew on January 13, 2013.

Newton, who denies the murder, had previously been arrested twice in 2013 on suspicion of Mrs Crown’s murder but was released without charge.

When sending out the jury at the end of the day, Judge Garnham said: “I work on murder trials up and down the country, I can’t remember a case where I have seen a jury working harder.”

Not up to date with what’s been said in court? Click the following links to find previous coverage of days one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen.

The trial continues.