A judge has apologised profusely to members of a jury in a long-running murder trial for having to discharge them in the “unprecedented” circumstances of a seriously ill barrister being unable to continue.

The trial of Caroline Rushworth, Neil Taylor and Daniel Fox started on March 5 at Maidstone Crown Court and had reached the defence case when it was halted today.

Lawyer Philip Sinclair, who represented Rushworth, was absent for two days before the decision was taken.

Resident Judge Jeremy Carey, who retires in May, commented he had “a very unhappy jury” when discharging them.

He told the six men and six women they had made the commitment to a long case and had stuck with it “through thick and thin”.

“Events until Tuesday this week were predictable,” he continued. “Gaps and legal argument are what happens in trials, not always but very often and quite understandably so.

“Perhaps you have had more times than usual when I have told you we won’t be sitting due to legal argument.

“But the events of Tuesday, and then Wednesday, are in my experience unprecedented – a member of the Bar being so unwell that he was absent and remained absent, worryingly so in terms of whether he was actually alive.

“That is well outside the experience I have had in any trial. We have explored ways in which the permanent absence of Mr Sinclair could be dealt with without you being discharged.

“Had we been in the early stages, or even the middle stages, or indeed had Mr Sinclair accepted the invitation that all defendants have to have a QC and junior, then we might have been able to salvage this.

“I have done everything I can to try and keep the case before you, because I know understandably you have made a big commitment.

“You were engaged in this case and have been impeccable in your attention to it and determination to see it through, but it would help you for me to say I am as honestly as frustrated as you are we won’t be able to do that.

“There is simply no just way in which I can continue with this case in the absence of representation by the original counsel.”

The judge said jurors might live with a sense of frustration, if not disapproval, that the court “could have done better”.

But he added: “You must trust me, I have done everything to keep this case going. This is a case, as I judge it, of illness and not any premeditated plan of action.

“I won’t say any more than that as it is a private matter, but it is unprecedented.”

Rushworth, 34, Taylor, 36, both of Caulkers House, Shipwrights Avenue, Chatham, and 35-year-old Fox, of no fixed address, deny murdering homeless James O’Rourke.

Wearing just boxer shorts, 29-year-old Mr Rourke’s body was found in a stairwell between the fourth and fifth floors at Caulkers House on the morning of Monday, August 28 last year. He died from multiple injuries.

Judge Carey set a provisional retrial date for September 3, but explained it could be heard earlier at a London court.

“There are two caveats for that,” he said. “Can it be before September 3 and whether the spike in murder cases in London is having an effect.”