A DRIFTER from Salisbury who has spent the past four weeks in the dock at a Kent Crown Court in a re-trial at which he was accused of the horrific sex murder of a teenager in a Tunbridge Wells car park now faces the threat of a third trial.

Last year a jury at the same court failed to reach a verdict in the case of Phillip Bell, 22, who is accused of strangling 17-year-old Terry Edmonds with her own scarf during a sex attack and then hiding her crumpled body in a suit case.

Yesterday after more than 19 hours considering their verdict a second jury failed to reach a decision. Now the prosecution has indicated it wants to take the rare course of asking for a third trial.

However, when Judge Andrew Patience QC was told, after the jury's failure to reach a verdict had been announced, that this was being sought the prosecution was immediately accused of acting "in a fit of pique" and of "jury shopping."

Defence counsel, Alun Jenkins QC, told the judge : "This is just jury shopping, hoping a jury will be more compliant. They have nothing further to offer. There have been two trials and 24 members of the public have failed miserably."

However, prosecuting counsel, Anthony Haycroft, told the court that while there was a convention that there should only be two trials, there was a legal precedent in respect of a case in the Bahamas where four trials had taken place in one case.