One of two men jointly accused of the manslaughter of Jermaine (Red) Pitcher has changed his plea to guilty.

Jamal (Knolly) Robinson, 24, has had a change of heart after his initial trial for the offence was aborted on Tuesday.

Robinson has been remanded in custody until he can be sentenced for his part in the death of Mr. Pitcher on February 27, 2000 outside the Champion's Night Club on Reid Street.

Now Keniel Alfred Ingham, 28, will go on trial today for the manslaughter of Mr. Pitcher. Ingham's lawyer, Venous Telford and Robinson's lawyer, Victoria Pearman asked Assistant Justice Archibald Warner that their clients be tried separately.

The move came after six days of trial testimony during the men's joint trial which ended abruptly on Tuesday.

The first jury in their case had already heard from several witnesses, including a blood pattern expert who been flown in from abroad by the Crown.

All these witnesses will now have to be presented to a new group of jurors as the new trial goes before Mr. Justice Warner this morning.

But Mr. Justice Warner denied both requests and a visibly upset Ms Pearman, said in light of the refusal, she had to withdraw as Robinson's lawyer because if there was not a separate trial "there would be a miscarriage of justice".

Mr. Justice Warner said to Robinson: "You have been found guilty by your own plea.

"With regard to future proceedings, you will be remanded in custody and your sentencing postponed in order to give you time to find another attorney."

The original trial, which was almost two thirds complete, was aborted after it was discovered that two of the jurors had previously made travel plans, which meant they would not be able to see the trial through.

There was no time limit given for the length of the trial, but it is expected to last at least two weeks.

Meanwhile Bar Association President Trevor Moniz said this week jurors should be forced to change travel plans to serve out their court commitments.

Such situations are "totally unacceptable", Mr. Moniz said, adding: "It (the first trial) was a total waste of public time, effort and money. There should be some form of explanation."

Mr. Moniz said jury duty has to take priority over potential jurors' other plans and even jobs or trials would never be seen to completion.

"Someone may have exercised poor judgement," he said. "Clearly (the trial halt) was surprising and unsatisfactory. If you are called for jury duty, you should be expected to be there from beginning to end."

Mr. Moniz said jurors who could not serve till the trial completion - for example for reasons of compassion - should not have been selected for the trial jury in the first place.

"If jurors can say at any point they're going away next week and can't serve, it doesn't make any sense," he said.

Jurors in the first trial of Pitcher and Robinson agreed last week to sit extended hours in the court - starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. - in order to try and see the case to completion within the two weeks the case was originally projected to last.