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The jury in the Sara Thornton retrial retired last night without reaching a verdict after four hours' deliberation.

The two-and-a-half week trial at Oxford Crown Court heard that Thornton, 39, stabbed her husband, Malcolm, once through the chest as he lay drunk on the sofa at their home in Atherstone, Warwickshire. She denies murder. The Court of Appeal ordered the retrial last year after Thornton had served five years in jail.

Mr Justice Scott-Baker told the jury there were three possible verdicts: guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter and not guilty of any offence. He told the jury they were entitled to look at previous conduct in the marriage and the fact that Malcolm, 44, was an alcoholic.

Thornton has been on bail since the Court of Appeal hearing last year. The trial was adjourned until today.