The Old Bailey jury trying former deputy headteacher Sion Jenkins for the murder of his teenage foster daughter will retire this week to consider its verdict.

Mrs Justice Rafferty will continue summing up the case today after sending the panel home for the weekend.

Last Friday the trial judge told the jury they had to be sure the prosecution had proved Jenkins had murdered the 13-year-old.

She said: "Billie was murdered eight years ago. Make allowances for failing memories over time, especially when you consider the evidence of Sion Jenkins.

"The greater the gap, the harder you may think it is for him accurately to recall what went on."

Jenkins, 47, now of Belgravia, central London, denies murdering Billie-Jo.

The teenager was battered to death with an iron tent peg as she painted patio doors at the then family home in Hastings in February 1997.

The judge warned jurors: "You must not convict him only because he has a bad character. It cannot be used simply to bolster a weak case."

Jenkins was jailed for life in 1998 but was released on bail last year when the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.