NEW DNA evidence which prosecutors allege belongs to the man who murdered a Hampshire grandmother was discovered six years after she was killed, a court heard.

Jurors at Winchester Crown Court were told how the evidence was retrieved from tapings from the blouse worn by 77-year-old Georgina Edmonds on the day she was battered to death in January 2008.

But it wasn't tested by forensic experts until February 2014, after Hampshire police made a policy decision to have it examined, the court was told.

Jurors heard how that discovery came more than two years after Matthew Hamlen was acquitted of murder by a jury at Winchester Crown Court.

As previously reported, the now 36-year-old is standing trial for a second time accused of the killing.

Giving evidence, Detective Inspector Martin Chudley explained how retrieving DNA from tapings on clothing, particularly something that was heavily bloodstained, is deemed difficult and unlikely to yield a result.

Following the murder of Mrs Edmonds, Det Insp Chudley was the crime scene manager whose job it was to ensure the scene of the crime was protected while it was thoroughly examined for evidence.

He described how he spent two weeks at the scene of the murder in Fig Tree Cottage in the grounds of Kingfisher Lodge in Kiln Lane, Brambridge, overseeing the recovery of evidence.

Officers had to wear forensic suits, masks and overshoes in order to access the scene, he added.

The court was told how among the many items sent for testing was the marble rolling pin, said to be the murder weapon, which was chemically tested for fingerprints. It's handle and spindle, which had broken away, were swabbed for DNA.

Det Insp Chudley told how he suggested as early as 2008 that the tapings from the blouse, as well as Mrs Edmonds trousers, were tested.

The jury was told how a decision was made to test the trousers first in the more likely hope of a result.

But when those eight tapings returned 'negative' the decision was made not to try anything from the blouse, the court heard.

However, following a review of forensic evidence in the case which happened after the acquittal of Hamlen on January 20, 2012, Hampshire police decided to go ahead and test the tapings from the blouse.

On February 20, 2014, it was examined by a forensic scientist where a DNA profile was found, the court was told.

Hamlen, 36, denies murder.

Proceeding.