The jury in a mob attack case has been granted "enhanced security" after a man was murdered at the victim's home, right in the middle of their deliberations.

The jury cleared the two final defendants in the trial yesterday but they were promptly arrested over Wednesday's shooting at victim Temasgan Furbert's Hamilton Parish home.

At the same time, news of that killing was broken to the 12 women of the jury, who were subjected to a news blackout when it happened because they'd yet to reach final verdicts.

Many of them broke down in tears as Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves told them what had transpired.

"A shooting did occur at the Furbert house that was the subject matter of this case and a person has died. The Police, I believe, will give you further details as to how it happened but you may find that some of the details are eerily similar to some of the details that you have [heard] in this matter, in the manner in which the assault was carried out," he said.

As previously reported, a marathon session at Supreme Court on Wednesday saw three men convicted over the mob attack, one cleared, and a hung jury in the case of the remaining two defendants.

The three convicted Kyle Tannock Williams, Bennett Phipps and Kiwaun Gilbert were remanded into custody after those verdicts at 7.30 p.m. Wednesday. The man cleared, Kaiwan Trott, walked free from court having changed into a T-shirt with a large logo proclaiming: "Stop snitching."

Meanwhile, in a rare move in Bermuda, the jury in the case was sent to a hotel overnight so they could continue to deliberate yesterday on the fate of the two men they could not decide upon, Detroy Smith Jr., 24, and Allan Douglas Jr., 22. They were banned from watching TV news or listening to the radio, and were locked in their rooms overnight under strict guard.

Meanwhile, Mr. Smith and Mr. Douglas were released on bail overnight.

The jury resumed deliberations at 10.53 a.m. yesterday, and came back with verdicts of "not guilty" in respect of Mr. Smith and Mr. Douglas at 3.06 p.m. by majorities of 11 to one and nine to three respectively.

As the pair left court, however, they were arrested by members of the Serious Crime Unit on suspicion of the shooting murder of 40-year-old Jamaican national George Lynch at the same Midland Heights Crescent residence that was the scene of the mob attack.

During the trial, Mr. Furbert, 23, described how he was set upon near the premises by a group of 20 to 25 men on the night of February 27 last year. They attacked him using their fists, feet, and a variety of weapons including an electric drill, bats, machetes and a cane and smashed the windows of his family home.

His sister Merate Phinn and brother-in-law Philmore Phinn live at the same premises with their three children. The couple gave evidence for the prosecution, although they could not identify any of the culprits in the mob attack.

Mr. Lynch was visiting the family around 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday night when he was shot dead by two masked gunmen on a bike. He was said by Police to have had nothing to do with the court case (see separate story). Mr. Furbert was not home as he is currently in prison serving a sentence for possession of a bladed article.

The judge explained to the jury: "This was not brought to your attention because we did not want to alarm you unduly and we wanted you to reach your decision without fear or favour. It is not Mr. Furbert who is dead and he didn't shoot anybody.

"We have not kept it from you because of any disrespect for you or because we did not have any interest in your welfare. I can assure you as soon as the news broke the Police were very vigilant and your security increased substantially."

He continued: "Arrangements are going to be made to seek to enhance your security and so on for some period of time. So rather than discharge you completely, rather than that, we are going to reassemble in the jury room where the Police officers are here to hear your concerns and to plan the way forward."

He also remarked: "I don't think anyone has ever heard of anyone dying so close to a case that was actually happening, especially during your deliberations."

The judge discharged the women from further jury service for the rest of their lives as a gesture of thanks for their work on the case.

Adding her thanks, defence lawyer Victoria Pearman, who represents Mr. Smith, said: "We do not know the details of what has transpired but at this stage there's no reason to think they [the jury] are targets in any way. I do not wish them to be unduly alarmed."

The judge responded by saying: "Yes, I would say the same. No one can be certain of anything but I would say the same as Ms Pearman."

After the jurors left for their Police briefing, the judge turned to the lawyers remaining in the courtroom and commented: "That is the saddest thing I have ever endured in my whole judicial career."

At the same time as he was addressing the jury, his words were been drowned out by cries of anger and emotion outside as Mr. Smith Jr. and Mr. Douglas Jr. were arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr. Lynch.

The arrests prompted their family members, who had been celebrating moments earlier, to break down in tears at the unforeseen twist in events.

Police declined to give further information on what security measures have been put in place to protect the jurors in the aftermath of the case.

Meanwhile, Mr. Smith Jr. and Mr. Douglas Jr. were released on Police bail last night. Their lawyers, Ms Pearman and Charles Richardson, declined to comment.