The jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a gardener accused of murdering his teacher lover.

Peter Ling, 50, is accused of bludgeoning Lynda Casey to death after discovering she was having an affair with another man, The Old Bailey heard.

Lynda Casey, from south Croydon, was lured to Banstead Woods where she was attacked by her married lover Peter Ling following a sex session, the jury was told.

However, the jury was sent away for the night today after failing to reach a verdict.

They will reconvene in the morning.

The 54-year-old horticultural teacher’s naked body was found partially covered with leaves in Banstead Woods on August 13, two days after being reported missing by her family.

Mrs Casey, who taught at the Sutton College of Learning for Adults (Scola), had suffered “massive damage to her forehead, face and skull consistent with blunt force trauma”, the jury heard.

Mr Ling, 50, who runs his own gardening firm in Wallington and was one of Mrs Casey’s students, appeared at the Old Bailey on Tuesday accused of murder.

Mrs Casey, who was estranged from her husband but still shared a home in The Drive, Coulsdon, had been having an affair for more than two years with Mr Ling, also married for 23 years.