THE jury in the body-in-a-suitcase murder of Kent teenager Terry Edmonds has sent home for the weekend.

The nine women and three men were sent out on Thursday afternon at Maidstone Crown Court by Judge Andrew Patience, QC, after a retrial lasting almost three weeks.

Philip Bell is alleged to have strangled 17-year-old Terry with her scarf and sexually assaulted her at a former Morrison's supermarket car park, where he lived rough, next to Tunbridge Wells railway station.

Her body was found in Bell's suitcase at the car park, 12 days after she was killed her on Bank Holiday Monday, April 17 2006.

Prosecutor Anthony Haycroft said Bell, 22, and Terry were on a "collision course". CCTV film showed Bell two seconds behind Terry at the station.

Bell denied killing Terry, claiming that he was in his bedding in the car park at the time. He said he smoked over 7g of cannabis resin, much more than he normally did.