Jury in TV man’s trial still trying to reach a verdict

The panel of nine women and three men were unable to reach a verdict on Saturday after being sent out by the judge to begin their deliberations and will return to St Albans Crown Court this morning.

They had been asked to come into court on Saturday, an unusual move because courts do not usually sit at the weekend, so that Judge John Plumstead could finish his summing up in Collins’s case.

It is believed there may be problems with juror availability this week and Judge Plumstead was keen to retire jurors as soon as possible.

Long-haired Collins, who appeared in court dressed in a checked shirt, pair of jeans and a dark blazer, denies harassing his former partner Anna Larke.

During his 10-day trial the court heard details of the couple’s tempestuous relationship in which they frequently fell out and argued.

Video games public relations worker Ms Larke, 38, claimed Collins subjected her to various levels of emotional and domestic abuse.

She alleged the ex-comic, also 38, made her write down in a Pukka pad all her previous sexual encounters regardless of how graphic.

The court heard he did not want to write the details down but Ms Larke dictated them to him and he believed it may have been a form of catharsis for her.

Collins, of Kew, south-west London, who made a name for himself with Channel 4’s The Friday Night Project, denied the charge of harassment and said recovering alcoholic Ms Larke, who moved in with him in January 2011, was obsessive, jealous and possessive and would send him a “barrage” of text messages wanting to know where he was and who he was with.

The pair met at a corporate event in 2006 and began an affair in 2007 to 2008 before splitting up.

The relationship resumed at the end of 2010 after the defendant’s marriage to his wife Karen, the mother of his sons Archie, seven, and Harvey, four, broke down.

Collins and Ms Larke lived together from January to July last year in a deeply troubled relationship as she tried to overcome alcoholism, the court has heard.

Collins is accused of making her come off social networking websites, sleep facing him and throw away DVDs because they featured actors she found attractive.

He denied all those claims and also denied making death threats against her.