The jury has been discharged in the trial of a man accused of deliberately stabbing his mother in the face.

Mohammed Zanul Islam Hussain, 21, was accused of wounding Hafsa Begum with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm on August 13 last year.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to wounding her, claiming he had not intended to cause her serious injury.

Duncan Ritchie, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told Bradford Crown Court yesterday a retrial would not be sought.

Discharging the jury, who had been unable to reach a verdict, Judge Jonathan Rose told them: “This has been one of the most difficult cases in which I have been involved, in my career as a barrister and my time as a judge.

“That is why I am not at all surprised you have found it impossible for the 12 of you, or even ten of you, to agree upon a verdict.”

During the trial the jury was told Hussain, of Water Lily Road, Heaton, suffered from bipolar disorder and paranoia and coped with his mental illness by drinking alcohol to excess.

On August 13 he woke up on the settee at about 8.30pm after sleeping off alcohol, when he began shouting at his mother, accusing her of black magic, prosecutor Mehran Nassiri had told the jury.

His brother saw him strike Mrs Begum in the face, but thought the blow had been a punch before he went to her and found she had a blade embedded in her face, the jury was told.

Hussain had told the court he loved his mother and the stabbing had been accidental.

He was told he could expect to be made subject to a hospital order when he is sentenced on July 6.

Before he left the dock, the defendant said to the judge: “Do you know when I’m going to go home?”.

Judge Rose replied: “I can’t answer that Mr Hussain because I do not know the answer.”

The judge commended the hospital staff who had accompanied Hussain throughout the court proceedings.