Jurors have been discharged after being unable to reach a verdict following the trial for a man accused of killing a toddler nearly two decades ago.

Cecil Patrick Kennedy, 51, faced a trial that began in July in the NSW District Court having pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Jordan Thompson.

The toddler died at Singleton in the NSW Hunter region in March 2005.

Kennedy was looking after the 21-month-old and his own child at his apartment while Jordan’s mother went to the shops.

She rushed the toddler to hospital after returning to the unit and finding him unconscious.

An autopsy did not identify a cause of death but blood analysis detected high levels of an antidepressant Kennedy had been prescribed in the toddler’s system, the jury heard.

After days of deliberation, jurors were discharged on Monday as they were unable to reach either a unanimous or majority verdict.

It has been more than 18 years since the toddler’s death and 15 years since an inquest into the case.

Kennedy is due to return to court on Friday.

– AAP