A jury in the trial of a head of police communications, who claims he was set up on child pornography charges after carrying out "sensitive" internal work within force headquarters, was last night sent home for the night after failing to reach a verdict.
Former MI6 agent Alan Coates is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with downloading pornography on to an office computer at Cleveland Police headquarters, in Middlesbrough.
The 52-year-old has denied the charges claiming the images were "planted" on his computer because he was too involved in major internal inquiries at Cleveland Police, including Operation Lancet, which led to the suspension of Superintendent Ray Mallon.
The jury, which went out at 12.15pm, was brought back into court after more than four hours of deliberation, but announced it had been unable to reach a verdict.
The jurors will continue their deliberations today
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