THE case of Barbara Salisbury at Chester Crown Court will be closely followed by friends and relatives of alleged victim Bertram David Madeley.

Described as a 'typical Crewe man' who loved to watch the Alex, Mr Made-ley was a keen theatre-goer who help to set up the Lyceum Theatre Club.

Unmarried Mr Madeley, who was known as David and lived on Newcastle Road, Balterley, worked for British Rail after he left school.

He started in the Crewe Works Accounts Office but was moved to Rail House on Nantwich Road in 1968 where he became Wages Manager before retiring in 1988.

He was taken into Leighton Hospital in April 2002, aged 72, but died nearly a month later on May 21.

Next-door neighbour Hilda Curr, 83, said: 'He would visit me most mornings and I would make him coffee and take him his dinner. He was a very intelligent man.'

Mrs Curr described Mr Madeley, who often had girlfriends but never settled down or had children, as a quiet but friendly loner.

Her view was echoed by Mr Madeley's former boss Len Shaw, 83, from Lawton Road, Alsager, who said Mr Madeley was 'of a quiet disposition'.

He said: 'He was well-liked and a nice chap but he really was a bit of a loner and he would never instigate conversation.

'His parents died when he was very young and he never married. He was just a bachelor boy.'

Outside work Mr Madeley was a keen photographer who had a passion for buses and would often be seen 'spotting' at Crewe's Bus Station. He was a member of the Omnibus Society and the Crosville Enthusiasts' Club.

Mr Madeley leaves behind two cousins, Reginald Ikin, 93, of Hungerford Farm, Madeley Crewe, and Pamela Tansey, of Crewe Road, Haslington.