‘Sometimes these things happen. It’s very unfortunate when they do,’ judge tells jurors in trial of former police officers Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The jury in the trial of Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara, who are accused of the shooting murder of Jamie Gao, has been discharged.

The crown alleges Rogerson and McNamara killed Gao at a storage shed in Padstow in south-western Sydney on 20 May last year.

Six days later his body was found floating in the ocean off Cronulla.

On the second day of the supreme court trial in Sydney on Tuesday, Justice Geoffrey Bellew told the 15-person jury that it was with “some regret that I make an order to discharge you”.

“Sometimes these things happen. It’s very unfortunate when they do,” he said.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to murder and to supplying prohibited drugs.

Rogerson has also pleaded not guilty to the alternative charge of being an accessory.