THE murder trial of a man accused of killing his disabled wife began for a second time at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

Kenneth Hood, 57, of The Garth, Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough, has denied the murder of his 55-year-old wife. He has also pleaded not guilty to two alternative charges of manslaughter, one alleging he caused her death by an assault and the other causing her death by gross neglect.

Before the trial restarted yesterday, a new jury was sworn in after the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, discharged an original panel.

Paul Worsley, prosecuting, said it was the Crown's contention that Mr Hood was criminally responsible for the death of his wife, Irene Hood, who died on May 14, last year.

Mr Worsley said Mrs Hood was a five-stone wheelchairbound woman, who suffered from osteoporosis and diabetes.

Several years ago she had her left leg amputated above the knee.

The couple, who had once been neighbours in Scotland, had got together following the death of Mrs Hood's first husband, the court heard. They moved to Teesside where they married in 1999.

Because of her multiple disabilities, Mrs Hood had been totally reliant upon her husband.

Mr Worsley said she was taken to hospital in April last year, where she was found to be suffering from several fractures and bedsores.

In hospital, Mrs Hood, who along with her husband drank heavily, alleged to police that her husband had twisted her leg and punched her on the chest and stomach.

The court was told how Mrs Hood, before dying in hospital last May, retracted her allegations and claimed she could not remember how she had sustained her injuries.

The trial continues.