William Roache's defence team sought to halt trial

William Roache's defence team attempted an 11th-hour, highly unusual legal bid to have the trial halted.

Louise Blackwell QC submitted to the judge that the jury should be discharged in the fourth week of the trial and shortly before they were due to begin considering verdicts - because the judge himself had been biased in his final summing-up.

Trial judge Mr Justice Holroyde, a high court judge, was not even at the halfway point of summing up all the evidence at the time the defence application to discharge the jury was submitted.

He had summed up most of the evidence for the prosecution - but as yet had not started summing up the evidence for the defence.

The judge said whether Miss Blackwell felt his summing up was still "unbalanced" when he had also covered the defence case as well would be a "matter for her professional judgment."

Giving his response, Mr Justice Holroyde said: "The application is made on the basis of her submission that in the course of summing up I have descended into advocacy, supportive of the prosecution case to the detriment of the defence case.

"It is certainly not my intention or my wish to be in any way unbalanced or unfair to either side in my summing up.

"She does not suggest anything I have said, so far, in reminding the jury of the facts was factually incorrect. The criticism goes to the overall tone and its effect on the jury."

Rejecting the application to have the jury discharged and the trial halted, he added: "However I do not accept the submission that the content or tone of my summary, thus far, could give rise to an inference of partiality towards prosecution or against the defence."

The legal dispute went on in the absence of the jury, one of several brought largely by the defence who a number of times complained of unfair or inaccurate press reporting of the case in the media.

Another late bid to discharge the jury was made on the morning it was eventually sent out to consider its verdicts.

Roache's defence team was concerned about the recent publicity of the death of a woman in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, who fell from a town centre roof just days after a man accused of raping her was acquitted.

The death of Tracy Shelvey drew comparisons in the media with the death of violinist Frances Andrade, who took her own life during the trial of choirmaster Michael Brewer - who was eventually convicted of sexually abusing her while she was a pupil at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.

Brewer's barrister was Kate Blackwell QC and following that case the judge emphasised that she could not be criticised for a proper and professional cross-examination of Mrs Andrade when she gave evidence.

Louise Blackwell QC, defending Roache, submitted there may be a difficulty with "disentangling that Miss Blackwell with this Miss Blackwell" if any juror read the coverage.

She said Mr Justice Holroyde should not have summarised the response of one of the complainants against Roache, whom she had accused of not telling the truth.

The witness had told her: "I have not come here to be called a liar and put myself through all these months of hell. You can say what you want - I know it's true, he knows it's true."

This amounted to "a real significant risk of unfairness" to her client, she argued.

Rejecting the submission, the judge said the jury was entitled to be reminded of the witness's response.