The trial of two men accused of grievous bodily harm with intent against an off-duty prison officer had to be aborted yesterday a man in the jury claimed his family is ?close? to the victim.

Assistant Justice Archibald Warner said he had no choice but to scrap the case and start all over again today after the man said when the jury had been selected on Tuesday morning, and asked if they knew either the complainant or the two defendants, he had not related the case to the man he knew.

But he said when he went home later that day, his wife had made him realise that the prison officer involved in the trial was well known to the family.

The jury had been sworn in on Tuesday morning to hear the case of Shannon O?Brien Tuzo, 30, and Raymond Winslow Burgess, 25, who have both pleaded not guilty to GBH with intent against prison officer Craig Randall Clarke on January 1, 2002.

The case was adjourned on Tuesday, without the jury hearing any evidence, until yesterday morning to allow Burgess time to find legal representation.

However, yesterday he returned to the court having been unable to find a lawyer able to take his case, and moments later the jury member raised his own concerns.

Shaki Eugene Crockwell, 21, of Happy Valley Road, Pembroke, has pleaded not guilty to GBH with intent, but guilty to GBH, and will be sentenced later.