Jury considers Moss verdict

An Old Bailey jury has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a man accused of murdering a nurse while she took a cigarette break outside her hospital.

Cheryl Moss, 33, was stabbed and slashed 72 times in a frenzied attack in woods behind St George's Hospital, Hornchurch, Essex, in April last year.

The healthcare assistant, who was on a cigarette break when she was attacked, had worked on the hospital's geriatric ward for more than a decade.

A post-mortem examination confirmed Mrs Moss had died from multiple stab wounds.

Trainee accountant Stuart Harling, 19, denies murder, claiming diminished responsibility.

During the trial, Harling reduced Mrs Moss's husband Peter to tears when he said the killing had "kinda ruined my day".

The prosecution claims Harling was living out a violent fantasy which evolved after he researched murder and serial killers on the internet.

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