The jury in the trial of a Devonshire man accused of holding up a bank and pistol whipping a security guard is expected to return its verdict later today.

After seven days of evidence into the robbery, which took place at the Somerset branch of the Bank of Butterfield in July 1997, prosecution and defence counsels spent yesterday morning summing up the key points of the trial.

Randolph Lightbourne, 32, of Devon Springs Road, is charged with armed robbery, two counts of unlawful wounding, using a firearm and carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence.

The former construction worker, who has been in custody ever since his arrest shortly after the raid, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Addressing the jury for the final time yesterday, defence attorney Marc Telemaque asked the ten women and two men to find his client innocent.

In an eloquent delivery Mr. Telemaque calmly dismissed much of the prosecution evidence, insisting that the Crown had failed to prove that Lightbourne was at the centre of the crime.

He reminded the jury that, although the prosecution had produced a stream of forensic experts who verified that Lightbourne's DNA was discovered on many key pieces of evidence, that alone did not prove his guilt.

And he also said that the testimonies of two witnesses who put Lightbourne at the centre of the action were unreliable and contradictory.

He admitted that there was no explanation why Lightbourne's fingerprint should have been found on a plastic bag found in the getaway car but added: "Who has to explain what in this scenario?'' x Jury expected to deliver verdict today driver Roderick Bean, who claimed that Lightbourne coerced him into taking part in the robbery, as "unacceptable''.

"This man is asking you to believe that this whole slew of events came about because someone standing on the side of the road flagged him down for a lift,'' Mr. Telemaque said.

"I would recommend that you ask yourselves, and you ask each other `am I satisfied so that I feel sure that, if I were called upon to point the finger and say, that's the one?' and if your answer to that is no you will say `not guilty'.'' But prosecutor Patrick Doherty insisted that the evidence against Lightbourne was overwhelming, reminding the court of a clutch of coincidences that proved Lightbourne was the guilty man.

He pointed to the fact that Lightbourne had received a short lift in the getaway car just before the robbery took place and then absentmindedly left various personal items in the vehicle.

He reminded the jury that Reid Jones, currently in jail for his part in the raid, had stayed with Lightbourne the night before the robbery and had left with his host's helmet, later found at the crime scene.

And he mentioned the fact that Lightbourne's DNA was discovered on a helmet visor along with the blood of one of the security guards beaten in the robbery.

He once again demanded to know why two independent witnesses positively identified Lightbourne fleeing from the getaway car and asked how his fingerprints could have been found on the plastic bag which contained gloves thought to be used in the robbery.

During his presentation Mr. Doherty repeatedly goaded the audience with the same question.

"Is Mr. Lightbourne just plain unlucky or plain guilty? Is this just another unlucky coincidence or is he guilty?'' The trial will reconvene later this morning when Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller gives her summing up to the jury.