Jury break for the night in murder trial

The jury in the murder trial of Napier man Tyson Bennett have been sent home. File photo / NZ Herald

The jury in the trial of Napier man Tyson Bennett for murder were sent home tonight.

Members had been deliberating for more than five hours when Justice Warwick Gendall in the High Court at Wellington called a halt for the day.

The seven men and five women will resume at 9.30am tomorrow.

Bennett, 19, went on trial on June 7 over the violent death of beneficiary Paul Robert Carrodus at Napier on October 6, 2009.

Mr Carrodus, 46, died of head injuries in Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital four days after a series of beatings at a Napier flat.

Bennett was one of several people celebrating the birth earlier that day of his flatmate's baby son.

Mr Carrodus, a friend of the flatmate's family, had been part of the drinking and cannabis "spotting" over several hours, during which repeated fighting broke out.

- NZPA