A jury retired yesterday to consider its verdict in the retrial of Sion Jenkins who is accused of murdering his foster daughter.

The six men and six women have been listening to evidence for two months.

Former deputy headmaster Jenkins, 47, now of Belgravia, central London, denies bludgeoning his foster daughter Billie-Jo Jenkins to death in February 1997.

The 13-year-old was found in a pool of blood on the patio of the family's home in Hastings where she had been painting doors.

Jenkins was jailed for murder in 1998 but freed on bail last year following a second appeal.

The prosecution says Jenkins was the killer but he says Billie-Jo was alive when he left the house.

The judge, Mrs Justice Rafferty, told the jurors to "put emotion to one side" when considering the verdict. The judge has already told the jury they had to be sure the prosecution had proved Jenkins had murdered Billie-Jo.

The judge said the prosecution had put forward two areas which it said demonstrated Jenkins's bad character.

First, he had lied about his qualifications when applying for jobs, including his application to become headteacher at the school where he was the deputy.

Second, he was alleged to have kicked Billie-Jo on her injured leg a few months before she was killed.

But the judge warned the jurors: "You must not convict him only because he has a bad character. It cannot be used simply to bolster a weak case. It would be wrong to jump to the conclusion he is guilty just because he has a bad character."

The jury was sent home for the night.