A jury in the trial of a former soldier accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend has been discharged after it failed to reach a verdict.

Mr Dillon, 28, denied a charge of unlawful wounding and said he had acted in self-defence.

The jury was sent out at 11am yesterday (Wednesday) but after just 40 minutes of further deliberations this morning, the jurors returned to court to inform the trial judge that they were unable to a reach a verdict on which they were all agreed.

Deemster Kainth discharged the jury of five women and two men.

The prosecution said it would need time to make a decision on whether or not to seek a retrial.

Mr Dillon’s former girlfriend, with whom he was involved in a ’friends with benefits’ relationship, sustained stab wounds to the back of her head, neck and shoulder as well as a fractured eye socket during an incident in the defendant’s flat in Reayrt ny Chrink, Crosby, in August 2016.