A top consultant said an ambulance crew, a nurse and a house doctor were negligent .

Mr David James Grundy made the claim regarding their treatment of teacher Richard Lewisas he was cross-examined by defence barrister Nicholas Valios QC at Lewes Crown Court yesterday.

Mr Lewis, a teacher at Brighton's Dorothy Stringer School, was admitted to Worthing Hospital in May 1997 after being punched and kicked by teenager Sam Brown in a Shoreham pub.

Brown is now standing trial for the teacher's murder after Mr Lewis died in hospital eight months later.

Mr Lewis suffered a fractured neck in the attack but was not

X-rayed at Worthing Hospital until three hours after his admission, the court heard.

The teacher suffered from a condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis, where his spinal cord was fused together making his head bend forward.

Mr Grundy, a consultant in spinal injuries at Salisbury District Hospital, agreed ambulance crews were grossly negligent when they first treated Mr Lewis and failed to pass on information to Worthing hospital staff about his condition.

When Mr Valios asked him: "Was the failure of the ambulance crew to give information about his condition to the hospital negligent?"

Mr Grundy responded "yes".

He also agreed the actions of the admission nurse who left Mr Lewis unattended for a lengthy period were grossly negligent.

When asked by Mr Valios: "Was the failure of the triage nurse also grossly negligent" Mr Grundy again replied "yes".

Mr Valios suggested the 48-year-old teacher had been ignored because he was brought in to A&E from a fight in a pub and was simply left in a cubicle to sober up.

Mr Valios also said the senior house officer Dr Martin Golta had been negligent in his care of Mr Lewis.

He said: "One would expect the SHO to ensure that a consultant came straight away and expect the consultant to respond by coming straight away and to fail on both must have been grossly negligent."

Mr Grundy replied: "It was."

Mr Valios said Dr Golta had known of Mr Lewis' condition and the risks but had not accompanied him to radiology to oversee his X-ray nor passed on information about his condition.

He said: "If the HSO knew he suffered from Ankylosing Spondylitis he would know it would be very dangerous for the neck to be extended for any X-ray observation."

Mr Grundy said the house officer should have known this.

But during the X-ray Mr Lewis' neck was extended and he was then put in a hard collar and laid flat, the court heard yesterday.

But Mr Valios said no one in the hospital had ever admitted to placing that collar on Mr Lewis.

The teacher then suffered a respiratory attack and, starved of oxygen for several minutes, went into a coma from which he never recovered before dying eight months later from bronchial pneumonia.

The case continues.

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