A NURSE has described how Barbara Salisbury needlessly injected a 92-year-old patient with two doses of the painkiller diamorphine hours before he died.

Staff nurse Leigh Brundrit claimed Salisbury asked her to help inject Nantwich pensionerFrankOwentwice despite him showing no signs of pain.

And she claimed she felt so intimidated by the 47-year-old she did not object to the injections, despite being sure they were totally unnecessary.

Mr Owen died two hours after the second injection was administered, in a side room in the hospital's Ward Four on March 31, 2002.

Giving evidence before the jury at Chester Crown Court, Nurse Brundrit said: 'Barbara approached me and asked if I would check out some diamorphine to give to Mr Owen.

'She told me he needed it. I can't remember what she said exactly. I think she said he was distressed, but I can't be certain.'

Salisbury said she needed to give the second injection before her shift ended because another nurse, Elizabeth Crabtree, would refuse to give him another.

But Nurse Brundrit said she could tell Mr Owen was not in pain and did not need another injection.

She said: 'He seemed comfortable to me. He wasn't agitated. He was lying on his back and my impression was he didn't require a second injection.

'But I was a junior 'D' grade staff nurse, and Barbara was an 'F' grade senior nurse. I couldn't question her authority. I felt she wouldn't listen if I raised objections. I found her a very intimidating person to work with.' Robin Spencer QC, prosecuting, asked Nurse Brundrit if she could remember who gave the second injection. She replied: ' Barbara did.'.

Mr Spencer then asked her how she felt when she came back to the ward the next day to discover Mr Owen had died hours after the jab.

She replied: 'I felt sick, quite sick.' Peter Birkett QC, defending, claimed Salisbury injected Mr Owen with the lowest dosage of diamorphine to keep him calm rather than relieve pain.

She injected him again while he was still in a relaxed state to prevent him becoming agitated once more, the defence barrister said.

He said: 'When someone is of advanced years and very poorly it is not easy to see if they are agitated through pain or for some other reason such as fear. If the diamorphine was keeping someone calm, preventing distress, you wouldn't stop the dose and wait until that person became agitated again, would you?

He asked Nurse Brundrit: 'Have you evergivenan injectiontosomeonewho was settled before they became agitated again. Have you ever done that?'

Nurse Brundrit replied: 'No.' Salisbury, formerly of Lime Grove, Shavington, denies trying to kill Frank Owen, and three other counts of attempting to murder James Byrne, 76, Reuben Thompson, 81, and Frances May Taylor, 86.

The trial continues