A juror in the Old Bailey trial of a teenager accused of murder two sisters in a Wembley park has been discharged after testing positive for Covid-19.
Mrs Justice Whipple formally released the juror from service on Monday and offered reassurance to the remaining jurors about court safety procedures.
Danyal Hussein, 19, is accused of stabbing to death Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in Fryent Country Park in the early hours of June 6 last year.
The sisters’ bodies were discovered concealed in bushes near a spot where they had been celebrating Ms Henry’s birthday.
Hussein, from Blackheath, is accused of carrying out the murders in a pledge to “sacrifice” women to a demon in exchange for a big lottery win.
Police recovered a handwritten note to a demon from Hussein’s bedroom which had allegedly been signed in his blood, the court has heard.
Hussein denies that blood or DNA evidence found at the scene of the double stabbing came from him.
Images from the last hours of the sisters’ lives have been released during the case.
Jurors in the trial have been following social distancing procedures, and have been divided by plexiglass screens while sitting in court.
The trial is set to continue with the remaining 11 jurors.
Hussein denies two counts of murder and possessing a knife.
