Chinese court considers verdict in Gu Kailai trial

Gu Kailai is accused of poisoning Mr Heywood last year in the south-western city of Chongqing, where her husband Bo Xilai was chief of the Communist Party.

An official said Kailai did not raise objections in court on Thursday to charges against her of murdering the British businessman.

“The trial finished this afternoon and the court adjourned,” Tang Yigan told reporters in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei.

“During the trial (Gu) Kailai was in good shape and mentally stable,” he added.

“The court will, during the adjournment, seriously and thoroughly consider the evidence, take into consideration the arguments of both sides, and according to facts and the law … the trial committee will announce the verdict after discussion. The date of the verdict will be announced.”

UK diplomats at trial

The Foreign Office has confirmed that UK diplomats have been given permission to attend the trial, which has began in the eastern city of Hefei.

They told a scrum of reporters outside the building they would not discuss the case.

It is considered unusual for foreign observers to be granted access to such politically sensitive court cases in China.

Mr Xilai was once considered a strong contender for membership of the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee and possible future leader of the country.

He was sacked from his position in March after allegations surfaced linking Gu to Mr Heywood’s death, and he remains under investigation by the party over corruption claims.

Gu and family aide Zhang Xiaojun are accused of killing Mr Heywood, a long-time associate of Bo’s family.

His death in a hotel last November was initially ruled accidental, and put down to alcohol abuse, though friends said Mr Heywood was not a big drinker.

Murder suspicions came to the fore after a former Chongqing police chief visited a US consulate in China and divulged information allegedly linking Gu to Mr Heywood’s death.

The case has convulsed China’s political world ahead of the expected handover of power to a younger generation of leaders at the Communist Party’s five-yearly National Congress in Beijing this autumn.

State censorship of internet chatter on the trial was swifter than normal on Thursday, with users of China’s popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo playing cat and mouse with censors to discuss the case, using word play to try and get around the controls.