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The jury in the spot-fixing trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court will resume deliberating next week after they were unable to reach a verdict on Friday.
The 12-person jury returned to the court to resume considering its verdict on whether Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif had plotted to ensure the deliberate bowling of no-balls in the fourth test against England in August last year, The Telegraph reports.
However, the jury was sent home for a second straight day by Justice Jeremy Cooke, the trial judge, who has demanded the jury come to an unanimous verdict in the case.
Butt and Asif deny involvement in a “conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and also conspiracy to cheat”- the charges authorised by British prosecutors in connection with allegations that agent Mazhar Majeed accepted money from a third party “to arrange for the players to bowl ''no balls'' on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan''s Fourth Test at Lord''s Cricket Ground in London.”
Asif''s lawyer, Alexander Milne, told the court that the two players have been granted 14-day extensions to their visas, allowing them to return on Monday when the trial resumes, the report said.
The jurors spent almost the whole of the 18th day of the spot-fixing case locked away in a room adjacent to the court, it added.
At one stage, they returned and listened again to two recordings of alleged conversations between Butt and Majeed.
The trial will now enter its fourth week.
The 12-person jury returned to the court to resume considering its verdict on whether Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif had plotted to ensure the deliberate bowling of no-balls in the fourth test against England in August last year, The Telegraph reports.
However, the jury was sent home for a second straight day by Justice Jeremy Cooke, the trial judge, who has demanded the jury come to an unanimous verdict in the case.
Butt and Asif deny involvement in a “conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and also conspiracy to cheat”- the charges authorised by British prosecutors in connection with allegations that agent Mazhar Majeed accepted money from a third party “to arrange for the players to bowl ''no balls'' on 26 and 27 August 2010, during Pakistan''s Fourth Test at Lord''s Cricket Ground in London.”
Asif''s lawyer, Alexander Milne, told the court that the two players have been granted 14-day extensions to their visas, allowing them to return on Monday when the trial resumes, the report said.
The jurors spent almost the whole of the 18th day of the spot-fixing case locked away in a room adjacent to the court, it added.
At one stage, they returned and listened again to two recordings of alleged conversations between Butt and Majeed.
The trial will now enter its fourth week.
