Men in jury confusion face murder retrial wait

Three men accused of killing a man in central London will have to wait 11 months for a retrial following a jury "mistake".

On 11 January, brothers Paul and Matthew Yusuff and their friend Moussa Traore were acquitted over the fatal stabbing of Adrian Kise, 32, outside Waterloo station.

The Old Bailey jury forewoman was twice asked if unanimous verdicts had been reached before finding the defendants, from south London, not guilty.

Within minutes, Judge Charles Gratwicke, who had come out of retirement to hear the case, reassembled the court after receiving a note indicating jurors had not all agreed on the verdicts.

The judge ordered them to continue deliberating before finally discharging them last Thursday after a total of 12 hours and 44 minutes of deliberations.

The jury found Paul Yusuff not guilty of possessing a blade or point.

However, the 11 men and women were unable to agree on the more serious charges.

Paul Yusuff, 21, and Matthew Yusuff, 23, were charged with murder and the lesser alternative of manslaughter, along with 24-year-old Mr Traore.

On Friday, prosecutor William Davis announced that the Crown would seek a retrial on the outstanding charges.

Judge Gratwicke set a provisional retrial date for 2 December despite opposition from defence barristers.

The Old Bailey heard all three defendants had applied to the High Court for their release from detention under habeas corpus and for a judicial review.

Their High Court case would be heard "as soon as possible" by Mr Justice Swift - on or before 29 January - the court was told.

Defence barrister Kerim Fuad KC said: "I only appear out of courtesy to the court. An application has been issued on a writ of habeas corpus to the High Court on behalf of the claimant Paul Yusuff and we await a hearing later this month.

"We maintain that the verdicts of not guilty by the jury were properly delivered which means that this court ceases, upon discharge of the defendants, to have any jurisdiction in this case as there is no existing count on any indictment before it."

Judge Gratwicke said: "My fear is if we do not provisionally fix a date there is every possibility it will go further into 2025 and nobody wants that.

"I cannot see for the life of me any prejudice to the defendants by provisionally saying if there is to be a retrial, it will take place on 2 December 2024."

The defendants attended the Old Bailey by video-link from custody at Belmarsh high-security prison.

The victim's family sat in the well of the court.

The defendants have denied all the charges against them.