SHAUN Stokes has been found guilty of murdering Newent man Tom Holt for his inheritance.

The Ledbury builder had denied killing the 36-year-old drug addict whose body was found in the River Frome near Bromyard.

But a jury rejected an alibi and defence claims that Mr Holt could have been killed by others from the murky world of drugs.

As The Forester went to press, the jury had failed to come to a unanimous decision on Petra Stokes. The jury of seven men and five women retired again after being told the judge would accept a majority verdict.

During the trial which lasted nearly five weeks, the jury at Worcester Crown Court was told that the desperate couple lured Mr Holt, of Four Oaks, into a trap to steal his money.

Mr Holt inherited £12,000 from his mother and Shaun Stokes, 32, was caught making withdrawals from the dead man's account.

Mother-of-one Petra Stokes, 27, told the court that Stokes attacked Mr Holt with a torch inside their Volvo car on September 18 last year. She insisted she was shocked and played no part in the violence but has been charged with murder.

She also denies assisting an offender by disposing of a body.

Shaun Stokes' defence claimed he had an alibi and Petra Stokes could have gone with another man to kill Mr Holt who was being chased by a drug dealer for debts.

Rachel Brand QC, for Petra Stokes, ruled out a planned killing.

But the prosecution allege the crime was a joint enterprise, motivated by a desperate need for cash to buy heroin and pay bills.

Prosecutor James Burbidge QC told the court: "They were people in the depths of addiction, motivated to kill for money."