A JURY will resume its deliberations today in the case of a man accused of rape and indecent assault.
Mark Stanford, 32, who is on trial at Teesside Crown Court, is alleged to have sexually abused his now adult female victim while he was a teenager.
The defendant denies two counts of rape and three of indecent assault, dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s which are said to have been committed in the Darlington and Newton Aycliffe areas.
Yesterday, the jury in the case was sent home after deliberating for more than three hours without returning a verdict.
They had already been given a direction by Judge George Moorhouse.
He said a majority verdict would be acceptable.
Mr Stanford, formerly of Darlington, but now of Ovenden Way, Halifax, West Yorkshire, has denounced the claims against him as lies.
The trial continues.
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