Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Judge Discharges Jury on Day Two of Stockton Murder Trial

The judge acted after a juror raised an issue about earlier evidence.

Overview

  • Judge Francis Laird KC dismissed the original panel on the trial's second day and ordered a new jury to hear the case.
  • Sam Tweddle, 22, and Stephen Ward, 25, deny murdering 27-year-old Macaulay Branighan, and Ward also denies possessing a machete.
  • Prosecutors introduced CCTV and recorded testimony, including footage of Tweddle in a Spar saying, "Macca Branighan's outside."
  • The Crown alleges three men chased Branighan from the shop to Westerton Green, where a cyclist swung a machete and a dog was urged on during the attack.
  • Branighan suffered stab wounds, severe blood loss and a brain injury and died three days later in hospital.