A WOMAN was cleared yesterday of murdering a pensioner when the trial involving herself and three men collapsed.
Pamela Wilkinson, 24, walked free from Teesside Crown Court after the judge, Mr Justice Silber, directed the jury to find her not guilty of murdering Mohammed Sharif, 68, in Middlesbrough, on April 21 last year. The trial began three weeks ago and was due to last for eight weeks. James Spencer, prosecuting, had said Mr Sharif was beaten to death behind his home in Garnet Street, Middlesbrough.
Mr Sharif used to collect broken washing machines, and Mr Spencer claimed that Pamela Wilkinson and the men, Mark Graham, 23, Stephen Ham, 31, and Jonathan Embleton, 25 were out that night looking for something to steal.
The prosecution had not finished presenting evidence against Wilkinson, who had shared a house in Stamford Street, Middlesbrough, with Ham and Graham. Embleton has no fixed address.
The judge told the jury: "There is no case to answer by Pamela Wilkinson."
The men's retrial is not expected to be before October.
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