No verdict in suitcase body trial

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A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the case of a homeless man accused of the murder of a teenager whose body was found in a suitcase in Kent.

Philip Bell, 22, had denied killing 17-year-old Terry Edmonds in a retrial at Maidstone Crown Court.

Jurors had heard how her body was found in a suitcase in a supermarket car park, near Tunbridge Wells station.

Mr Bell was remanded in custody pending a further hearing to decide whether there will be a second retrial.

The date for the hearing has yet to be fixed.

The discovery of Terry Edmonds' body came 12 days after she was reported missing in April 2006.

A post-mortem examination found she had sustained head injuries consistent with being strangled and suffocated.