A jury was deadlocked on the most serious charge against a mechanic who said he was misled into taking part in the theft of Kirsten Dunst's $2,000 (€1,370) handbag during filming in Manhattan.

James Jimenez (35) was convicted of criminal trespass, but jurors could not reach a verdict on burglary and other charges, which included evidence from the Spider-Man star and her one-time co-star, British actor Simon Pegg.

Jimenez told jurors he thought he was helping run an errand for co-defendant Jarrod Beinerman's mother when the two men slipped into a penthouse suite at the Soho Grand Hotel at around 4am on 9 August 2007, while the movie How To Lose Friends and Alienate People was being filmed downstairs.

Dunst and Pegg had left some belongings in the suite, which they had used to relax between takes.

Dunst told the jury last week that she returned to find her Balenciaga bag missing, along with another $2,000 in cash inside. Pegg told the court his phone, camera and iPod also disappeared. Some of the items, including Dunst's purse, were eventually returned. Jimenez said Beinerman took the items and Jimenez had carried them out of the hotel in a shopping bag but did not realise what was in it. Beinerman was sentenced last September to four-and-a-half years in prison after admitting attempted burglary.