PROSECUTION lawyers are due today to start outlining the case against a nurse accused of trying to murder four elderly patients in her care at Leighton Hospital in Crewe.
Barbara Salisbury, 47, is appearing at Chester Crown Court where she is charged with four counts of attempted murder between May 1999 and April 2002.
During that time the married mother-of-two lived at Lime Grove in Shavington and worked on the general medical Ward Four at the hospital.
A Chester Crown Court spokeswoman said a pool of 70 potential jurors had to be whittled down to the panel of 12.
She said: 'On this particular occasion we have more than we would have for a normal trial that would be expected to last for two or three days.
'It is anticipated that some jurors might find it difficult to commit the length of time necessary to see this trial to its conclusion.
'Historically, it will be things like the length of the case whether they have medical appointments, whether they have holidays booked, or particular difficulties with work.
For the last four days the court has been locked in legal arguments surrounding the case which cannot be published by any newspapers.
Salisbury, now of Pontybodkin, Mold, is accused of trying to kill Frank Owen, 92, Reuben Thompson, 81, Frances May Taylor, 88, and James Byrne, 76. All have since died. The trial is expected to last for 10 weeks.
