The jury in the Bradford child torture trial was today spending a fourth day considering its verdicts.

The 11-strong panel, of seven women and four men, are deliberating 14 charges of wounding and child cruelty.

During the two-month trial at Bradford Crown Court it was alleged that a fervent preacher tortured his two sons by putting safety pins through their lips and cutting their mouths with scalpel blades.

The Nigerian man, aged 47, denies 11 offences of wounding and cruelty.

His wife, 38, also a devout Christian, denies three charges of cruelty to her children.

The couple cannot be named for legal reasons to protect the identities of their children.

The trial continues.