The long-running trial of former Beluga Shipping managing director Niels Stolberg looks set to enter a new phase.

Stolberg’s lawyers are said to have rejected a “deal” which would have led to a reduced prison sentence, according to German media reports.

German prosecutors had been prepared to offer a reduced sentence of up to three years and nine months.

That could have brought a conclusion to legal proceedings which have occupied the Bremen District Court since January 2016.