THE jury in the trial of a councillor on sex charges has been discharged after failing to reach any verdicts.

Peter McLaughlin pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges of indecent assault he faced.

The eight women and four men of the jury spent nearly eight hours in deliberation at Carlisle Crown Court before returning this afternoon (Monday, April 14) to tell the judge that they had reached "an impasse" in their deliberations.

Judge Paul Batty QC asked the foreman if there was any chance of their reaching any verdicts if they were allowed more time, and he discharged the jury after being told there was not.

The judge gave the prosecution until Thursday of this week to talk to the alleged victim and to "take stock" before deciding whether to take the case to a retrial.

In the meantime Coun McLaughlin, of Murray Park, Stanley, County Durham, was released on bail.

Coun McLaughlin, the 62-year-old former chairman of Stanley Town Council in County Durham, and ex chairman of Stanley Area Action Partnership, was accused of deliberately grooming a 13-year-old boy and assaulting him after taking him on trips to the continent while he was working as a coach driver in the 1990s.