MURDER-ACCUSED Rachael Horton is likely to face a retrial next spring over her alleged involvement in the killing of Chester man Martin Ithell.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court found her former fiancé Scott Davidson, 23, guilty of murdering Mr Ithell, of Boughton, at his Frodsham home.
But there was a hung jury in relation to co-accused Horton, who will now face a retrial provisionally scheduled for April 16, 2012, which is expected to last three to four weeks.
Both had pleaded not guilty to murder.
Horton, from Little Sutton, had been accused of being party to a murder plan to lure Mr Ithell to the Frodsham home she had shared with Davidson and of stabbing the 49-year-old in the neck after he had been shot by her then boyfriend.
Horton’s case has been listed for mention at Liverpool Crown Court on December 12 to set a trial date when Davidson, who will be a witness in the case, will also be in attendance.
Judge Clement Goldstone QC, Recorder of Liverpool, who presided over the first trial, would like to keep the ‘same panel’ so would prefer that he judges the case again and that Horton’s barrister Andrew Thomas QC remains her defence advocate.
Prosecutor Michael Chambers QC will be unable to participate on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service because he has been appointed as a circuit judge based at Birmingham Crown Court.
Sentencing of Scott Davidson has been deferred until the conclusion of Horton’s second trial.
The judge expressed the view that despite the difficulty in organising a trial with the same panel it was important to do so as soon as possible because Davidson needs to know his sentence and due to the length of time Horton has been on remand.
