AN INQUEST into the death of a mentally ill artist from Alsager has been adjourned until December after the coroner's jury failed to reach a verdict.

The parents of 28-year-old Andrew McDonald will have to re-live the four and a half hour ordeal in front of a fresh jury after a 5-4 split was reached.

Andrew, from Close Lane, Alsager, was found face-down in a farmer's field on January 6, after escaping from a locked ward at Leighton Hospital. He had drowned in a pool of water.

Coroner John Hibbert discharged the jury, thanking them, but said he could accept nothing less than a 6-3 majority.

"There is no way a coroner in this country can accept a 5-4 verdict," he said.

Earlier the inquest, at Crewe Magistrates on Tuesday, heard how Andrew had suffered from manic depression for the past seven years.

His mother, Norma McDonald, said: "It's a very upsetting illness which eroded our son's self-esteem and confidence. It's very disturbing for such an intelligent young man to realise how reliant he had become.

"Admitting him for hospital care caused us great distress but it was for our son's safety."

Doctor Jonathan Cadman was on Andrew's ward at the time of the escape, which took place the day before his death.

"I was leaving through the single locked door at 3pm when someone pushed past me," he said.

"I grabbed him and a member of staff said to let him go and that they would call the police. I was unable to hold him in any case so I let him go.

"It's not for members of the health service staff to get thumped on duty. We have a duty not to just stand aside but that duty has its limits."

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