JURORS in the Jack Crawley murder trial at Carlisle Crown Court have been sent home after they failed to deliver any verdicts.
They will resume their deliberations on Monday.
Crawley, 20, has admitted the manslaughter of 56-year-old Cumberland Infirmary catering manager Paul Taylor on October 18 last year. He denies murdering him. He also denies attempting to murder a man near York.
The judge in the case, The Honourable Mr Justice Goose, this afternoon told the jury of six men and six women that they must return to court on Monday morning to continue with their deliberations.
Crawley claims he was working for a London based crime gang, whose bosses forced him to commit crimes at the time Mr Taylor died, on October 17 last year.
He told the jury that he only ever intended to steal Mr Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa but he never intended to kill him. Mr Taylor, a catering manager at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary, was fatally injured when he fell during a struggle, said Crawley.
His denial of attempting to murder a man near York on January 5 is based on his assertion that he acted in self-defence when threatened with a knife.
Crawley (pictured below) also denies a second charge – an alternative to the attempted murder allegation – that he intentionally inflicted grievous bodily harm on the man he hit with a hammer in the York incident.
Co-defendant Marcus Goodfellow, 20, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, denies “assisting"Crawley by helping to dispose of Mr Taylor’s car while knowing the vehicle belonged to a person who was unlawfully killed.
He told the jury he had no knowledge of what happened to Mr Taylor when he travelled with Crawley in the Vauxhall Corsa on October 19 to Langwathby. Both men worked as security guards at The Cumberland Infirmary.
Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, has been on bail while Crawley, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, has been remanded in custody throughout the trial. The trial is not sitting either tomorrow or on Friday.
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