Juror discharged in Sydney murder trial

A juror has been discharged at the trial of two brothers accused of murdering a man whose smouldering body was found in a burnt suitcase in the middle of a road in a Sydney reserve.

As the final crown witness entered the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, a juror realised he worked with the man whose surname he had not known.

Azam Charbaji, 26, and Haysem Charbaji, 24, have pleaded not guilty to the 2014 murder of Dane McNeill, while Lexy May Jamieson, 26, has denied being an accessory.

The crown alleges the 20-year-old victim was bashed, stabbed and force-fed Xanax tablets, before being locked in a laundry overnight, attacked again and burned in the suitcase.

A list of the names of expected witnesses was read out before the jury was empanelled.

But after discharging the juror who knew the witness, Justice Stephen Rothman told the remaining 11 jurors that he had explained he had only known the first name of his work colleague.

The trial will resume on Monday.