A jury has been discharged in the trial of a care assistant accused of placing a plastic bag over the head of an elderly hospital patient.

Santosh Bhatta, 32, from Moreton, had been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with ill treatment of another by a care worker.

He had told the court he had placed a plastic sheet in front of 79-year-old Olinda Mansfield's face in a game of peekaboo, although two of his colleagues said they had seen her with a bag over her head.

The jury of nine women and three men was sent out to consider its verdict on Friday.

But, on Monday jurors were discharged after they were unable to reach an agreement, a court spokesman said.

A retrial has been listed for January next year.