Jury discharged in case of 14-year-old girl accused of murder in Wellingborough
Jurors at Lincoln Crown Court spent nearly 17 hours deliberating about the stabbing of 43-year-old Marta Bednarczyk
Last updated 16th Dec 2025
A jury has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict in the trial of a teenage girl accused of murdering a woman who suffered more than 140 knife injuries.
Jurors at Lincoln Crown Court spent nearly 17 hours deliberating after hearing more than two weeks of evidence about the stabbing of 43-year-old Marta Bednarczyk, who was pronounced dead at a property in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in March.
The court heard Ms Bednarczyk was probably dead before her body was burnt in a fire at a terraced property on March 10.
Prosecutors alleged the girl, who was 13 at the time and cannot be identified in media reports because of her age, conducted online research, planned the killing and "plainly thought she was getting away with murder".
The trial, sitting at the city's magistrates' court, was told the defendant had admitted manslaughter but denied murder, claiming diminished responsibility.
On Tuesday, High Court Judge Mrs Justice Tipples asked the jury whether, if given more time to deliberate this week, they could reach a verdict on which at least 10 of them were agreed, to which the foreman replied: "No."
The judge said: "Thank you for that answer, I am now going to discharge you all from the jury. That is the end of your involvement in this case.
"I want to thank all of you for your hard work and commitment in carrying out this extremely important public duty.
"Please do not feel that you have failed in any way because you were unable to reach a verdict."
She added: "Given the nature of the case and the length of the case, I am going to discharge you from jury service for life."
A date for a retrial, lasting three weeks, was set for May next year at the same court.