The judge in the trial of Richard Elmes, accused of the 2009 manslaughter of Trowbridge builder Adrian Cooksey, told the jury today that he would accept a majority verdict.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court first went out on Thursday and, in total, has spent more than 12 hours considering its verdict.

And just after midday, Judge Neil Ford QC said that he would accept the majority verdict of the jury.

Elmes, 51, of Semington Road, Melksham, denies punching his childhood friend Adrian Cooksey in a confrontation over an affair Elmes had with the wife of a mutual friend back in 1984.

Mr Cooksey, a builder from Trowbridge, was found unconscious in Spa Road, Melksham, in the early hours of March 8, 2009, and died later that day in hospital from head injuries.

Elmes had been out drinking that night with Mr Cooksey and appeared at the 2009 trial of student Thomas Minshull, who was acquitted, as a witness.

However, secret police recordings of conversations between Elmes and his wife revealed him admitted to telling "porkies" in his evidence, in which he said he had not been in Spa Road with Mr Cooksey or having an argument with him.

In fact he did recall being in Spa Road and the confrontation, which he says he walked away from after Mr Cooksey got "punchy".

Elmes has admitted perjury but denies manslaughter.