CRUELTY allegations against the owners of a Southampton rest home have been discontinued.

Dharamjit and Jaswinder Rai had been charged with 12 allegations against elderly residents at the Everest retirement home in Welbeck Avenue, Highfield.

The couple, who denied all the charges, had been due to stand trial at Southampton Crown Court in June.

The case was dropped at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service for legal reasons.

No specific reason was given in open court.

Dharamjit Rai, 57, and his wife Jaswinder, 51, had faced four joint charges of putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.

It was claimed they had shouted at residents named as Ivy Mitchell, Stanley Emmett, Rita Snook and Pat Eades, forcing them to ingest food, drink or medication.

The couple were also accused of manhandling Mrs Mitchell, refusing to take her to the lavatory and leaving her there for an unreasonable length of time, causing distress.

A further count alleged they had forced Mrs Snook to walk and had manhandled her.

Mr Rai also faced an allegation of putting another resident, Walter Dorset, in fear of violence by shouting at him and repeatedly forcing him to ingest food, drink or medication.

All offences were alleged to have happened between January 1998 and February 2003 and followed lengthy investigations by detectives based at Bitterne CID.

As revealed in the Daily Echo, police swooped on the privately owned 20-bed care home on February 14 last year and drove the Rais away for questioning.

The joint inquiry was carried out by Hampshire police, Southampton City Council's social services department and the National Care Standards Commission.

Throughout the investigation, the Everest has remained open under temporary management arranged by social services chiefs.

A spokesman for the National Care Standards Commission said a review of the Rais' registration at the Everest would now take place in light of what had happened in court.

Neither Mr or Mrs Rai was available for comment yesterday.