A JURY is to continue its deliberations tomorrow in the trial of a takeaway boss accused of killing a schoolgirl and joking she had "gone into the kebabs".
Blackburn man Iyad Albattikhi, 30, is accused of strangling Charlene Downes, 14, of Blackpool, before she was "chopped up" and disposed of.
Albattikhi denies murder.
His business partner and landlord, Mohammed Reveshi, 50, originally from Iran, denies helping to dispose of the body.
No trace of Charlene's body has ever been found, Preston Crown Court was told.
Charlene, of Buchanan Street, spent her time hanging around shops on Blackpool Promenade and was last seen on the early evening of November 1 2003.
After kissing her mother Karen goodbye, she went off on her own and vanished, the jury was told.
The trial had been told that Albattikhi ran a takeaway in Blackpool which he commuted to from his home in Blackburn.
The jury was sent home by the judge this afternoon after failing to reach a verdict. They will continue their deliberations at 10am tomorrow. The judge has already instructed the jury that the court will accept a majority verdict.
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