PROSECUTORS have finished presenting their case in the trial of a man accused of murdering a Hampshire grandmother.

Matthew Hamlen is today expected to take to the stand at Winchester Crown Court to begin his defence.

Last night barrister William Mousley QC opened his defence case telling jurors that Hamlen had neither "motive" nor "capability" of murdering 77-year-old Georgina Edmonds.

Hamlen was previously tried and acquitted of murder in 2012.

Mr Mousley told the court: "Take a good long look at him and listen to what he has to say. What possible reason did he have and would he be capable of these things?"

He told jurors they will hear evidence which will question key "pillars" of the prosecution case including accusations that he had used an ATM on the night of the murder, the route the killer left Mrs Edmonds' home and claims that Hamlen had attempted to create an alibi.

He told the court they would hear evidence questioning the reliability of DNA samples and added: "What you are going to hear is whether or not some or all of that evidence will cause those pillars not just to be shaken but to crumble."

Earlier prosecutor Kerry Maylin told the court how investigation of bank records showed how someone had attempted to use a bank card belonging to Mrs Edmonds to withdraw £200 from a cashpoint in Tesco in Twyford Road, Eastleigh on the night of the murder.

But the Lloyds TSB card was blocked due to an incorrect pin number being used and the card was cancelled two days later, Ms Maylin said.

Mrs Edmonds was found by her son Harry Edmonds lying face down in a pool of blood in the kitchen of her Brambridge cottage on the evening of Friday January 11, 2008.

She had been battered by a blunt instrument which the prosecution say was a marble rolling pin and suffered stab wounds on her body.

Hamlen, 36, of Bishopstoke, denies murder.

Proceeding