An Old Bailey jury today begins its third day of deliberations in the Billie-Jo Jenkins murder retrial.

Former deputy headteacher Sion Jenkins, 48, denies murdering his 13-year-old foster daughter in Hastings.

The teenager was found battered over the head with an iron tent peg while painting patio doors at the family home in February 1997. Jenkins, of Kings Saltern Road, Lymington, Hants, denies murder.

He was jailed for life following a trial in 1998. A retrial was ordered following two appeals.

A jury at the Old Bailey failed to reach a verdict last July and a second retrial began three months ago.