THE jury in the murder trial of a mother of five who was stabbed to death as she tended her horses in a New Forest field has been sent home after a third day of being unable to reach a verdict.

Supermarket worker Pennie Davis, 47, was found dead by her husband, Peter Davis, in a field at Leygreen Farm in Beaulieu in the New Forest on September 2 last year.

Justin Robertson, 36, of no fixed address, who denies her murder and conspiracy to murder, was traced by police after he dropped a set of car keys at the murder scene, Winchester Crown Court was told.

Ben Carr, 22, of Edward Road, Southampton, and Samantha Maclean, 28, of Beech Crescent, Hythe, are also charged with conspiracy to murder, which they deny.

Carr has told the jury that he was ''furious'' with Mrs Davis because she sent a Facebook message to Alison Macintyre, his father's fiancee, in which she threatened to tell police of a sexual assault allegation made against him when he was 14 years old.

He was also concerned that Mrs Davis would turn up and ruin the forthcoming wedding of Ms Macintyre with his father, Timothy Carr.

After describing his situation to Robertson, Carr said he arranged for his co-defendant to ''scare'' her but not to use physical violence.