Jury Fails To Reach Verdict Over Wolverhampton Murder Trial

14 June 2019, 14:14 | Updated: 14 June 2019, 14:17

The jury in the trial of a building company boss accused of murdering his wife at their family home has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict.

Gurpreet Singh, 44, had denied strangling his wife, 38-year-old seamstress Sarbjit Kaur, at the detached house in Rookery Lane, Wolverhampton, in February last year.

An "unknown accomplice" wearing a Parka-style coat and carrying a Sports Direct bag had been shown on CCTV walking up the house's driveway and later leaving on the morning of the murder, the jury had been told.

But despite exhaustive efforts, police had been unable to track down the individual , believed to be a woman.

Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court had been deliberating for 10 days but, asked on Friday by the judge if there was a reasonable prospect of a majority agreeing a verdict, the jury's forewoman replied: "No."

The seven women and three men of the jury had already unanimously acquitted Singh on Wednesday of offering to pay £20,000 to a would-be hit-man to kill his previous spouse.

David Mason QC, prosecuting, told the court the Crown Prosecution Service would be seeking a retrial.