The Tesco fraud trial has come to an abrupt halt as one of the accused former directors, Carl Rogberg, suffered a heart attack.

Judge Deborah Taylor dismissed the jury after Rogberg was admitted to hospital, stating his illness could prejudice their decision.

The Serious Fraud Office will now have to decide whether to pursue a retrial, meaning the four months of the trial would have to be rerun in front of a new jury.

It is due to make a decision by March 1.

The trial began in September last year following years of delays and relates to the 2014 accounting scandal which wiped an estimated £2 billion off the Big 4 grocer’s market value.

Rogberg, Tesco’s former finance director, stands accused of fraud and false accounting alongside former commercial director for food John Scouler and former UK managing director Christopher Bush.

All three men have denied charges and pled not guilty to any wrongdoing.

Rogberg is reportedly awaiting surgery in hospital.

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