A MAN accused of murder has been taken ill while his case is in court, bringing his trial to a temporary halt.
Justin Griffith, 42, stands accused of murdering Sean Ember, 35, who was stabbed on November 29 last year at an address on Arcaro Road. He denies the charge.
The trial at Winchester Crown Court has been ongoing for 26 days.
Steven Perian, KC, was due to present the prosecution's closing argument on Friday, June 13, but the judge ended proceedings due to Mr Griffith being "unwell."
Judge Angela Morris said it would be unfair to continue in his absence.
She said: "You will notice that Justin Griffith is not sitting in the dock [...] before what is ordinarily the lunch adjournment, Mr Griffith was extremely unwell as [...] witnessed by his counsel.
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"It's my job to make the decision as to what happens [...] but I'm sure you will all understand it would be grossly unfair [...] for a defendant not to be present for speeches.
"And for that reason, I'm not going to be dealing with Mr Perian's speech."
Following the announcement of Mr Griffith's illness, the judge took the jury through legal directions. These concerned a threatening text message in 2023 and newspaper articles about Sean Ember on Mr Griffith's phone.
She said that in July 2023, the defendant sent a message to Fynn Richardson suggesting he would stab someone in the neck. The prosecution says this meant he was more likely to stab Sean Embers, but the defence says it does not.
The trial will resume on Monday morning at 10.30am.
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