THE JURY considering the case of two west Cumbrian men who are accused of manslaughter "through negligence" have been sent home for the day.

At 4.20pm today, the senior judge presiding over the trial of Robert Christopher Morgan, 61, and 53-year-old David Holyoak, told jurors they will resume their deliberations at 10am tomorrow.

The alleged victim was 71-year-old Dorothy Morgan, the wife of Robert Morgan, while Holyoak is her son by another man.

Both men deny manslaughter.

The prosecution was brought following Mrs Morgan's death in February 2021 after she was admitted to Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital.

She was severely dehydrated and emaciated, weighing four and a half stones. She also had severe pressure sores, sepsis and gangrene.

In the weeks before her hospitalisation, the court heard, she was living at the family on a settee in the living room, covered in faeces and urine.

Prosecutor Iain Simkin KC had told the jury that by the time Robert Morgan called an ambulance on January 25, 2021, Mrs Morgan’s physical condition was so bad that her death was inevitable.

The two defendants, who lived with Mrs Morgan in Calder Avenue, Whitehaven, have told the jury of seven men and five women that she was a strong willed person, who refused to let them get the medical attention she needed.

Her Honour Judge Goddard KC told jurors they must not carry out any work on the case after leaving court.

"We will see you again tomorrow morning," she told them.

The trial has been running for four weeks.