THE trial of a bouncer charged with killing a man with a single punch has collapsed after a jury failed to reach a verdict.

The 11-person jury could not decide whether Leslie Wiseman was guilty of the manslaughter of Paul Wallington, who died shortly after Christmas in 2018.

Wiseman, 31, of Whitehouse Meadows, Eastwood, claims he acted in self-defence when he struck Mr Wallington outside the Vine bar in Brentwood High Street shortly after midnight on Christmas Day.

Mr Wallington died from serious head injuries several days after the incident.

Following the trial, the jury retired to consider their verdicts on Thursday morning at Basildon Crown Court.

However, after nearly 13 hours of deliberations, they sent a note to Judge Ian Graham informing him they could not reach a verdict.

The note, read to the court by Judge Graham, the jury said they had been settled on their thoughts from the first day of deliberations and it had not changed since.

When the judge asked the foreman if more time would allow a realistic prospect of them delivering a verdict, the foreman said it would not.

Judge Graham then thanked the jury for their service and discharged them.

Christopher Paxton QC, prosecuting, asked Judge Graham for seven days to allow discussions on when a retrial could take place.

Wiseman, who will be released on bail until a retrial can take place, was told by the judge: “I’m afraid this does happen from time to time, a jury can’t reach the necessary majority to return a verdict.

“It means your case still hangs over you, there’s nothing I can do about that.

“It will be mentioned a week today to fix a trial date.”

The trial previously heard Wiseman sent messages to friends where he described the incident, stating he “caught him a dream” and offered tips to friends on how to punch.

The court heard from witnesses which saw Mr Wallington be forced into the road.

He had been ejected from the venue following an argument and had been protesting his case at the time of the incident.

When Wiseman himself took to the witness box, he admitted he was “idiotic” to send the messages and they were part of a “pathetic bravado chat with mates”, however, he said he would not have acted differently and that his actions were professional.