A JUDGE has ordered a retrial in the case of a former Kidderminster man charged with the manslaughter of a hotel guest.

The jury trying 61-year-old hotelier Bryan Male failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for nine hours at the end of a six-day trial.

Worcester Crown Court heard how building worker Robert Drabble, 20, of Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, was killed by carbon monoxide fumes as he took a shower at The White Horse Hotel, Pershore, on January 28, 1998.

The prosecution alleged that Kidderminster-born Male, who used to work at Smethwick Drop Forgings, made DIY modifications to the gas shower heater after the pilot light kept going out -- and turned it into a lethal appliance.

Male, a married man, admitted building a timber windbreak around the outlet flue and stuffing insulation into gaps.

But he claimed that at the time he believed he was doing nothing dangerous and denied he acted in a reckless manner.

Mr Justice Tucker discharged the jury of six men and six women and ordered a retrial at a date to be fixed. He granted Male bail.

The victim and two colleagues were staying at the hotel while working on a contract for Severn Trent. Mr Drabble was found slumped in the shower on the hotel's top floor. He died despite efforts to resuscitate him.