Teacher Richard Lewis was was left in casualty for more than three hours before being X-rayed.

A court heard that Mr Lewis, who later died from his injuries, was admitted to Worthing Hospital at 10.30pm after being assaulted, but it was not until 2am the following day that he was found to have broken his neck.

The 47-year-old physics teacher, who worked at Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton, was attacked by Worthing teenager Sam Brown in May 1997.

He slipped into a coma and died eight months later.

Brown, 18, had already admitted assaulting Mr Lewis, causing grievous bodily harm, in a previous trial. He is now being tried for murder at Lewes Crown Court.

Mr Lewis was attacked at The Montague pub, in Shoreham High Street, after Brown had entered the pub "ranting and raving".

Shortly after he was X-rayed on May 18, he had difficulty breathing.

Despite attempts to revive him, he went into a coma and died in January 1998 without recovering.

On the second day of Brown's trial, defence barrister Nicholas Valios QC said Mr Lewis had been in casualty for two hours before his face was cleaned.

Criticising the priority Mr Lewis was given, he said it was almost "have an aspirin and go home".

Nurse Margaret Peters told the jury: "He told me he could not feel his legs and that his arms felt heavy. He told me had a

bone condition called spondylitis in the neck and he could not lean forward because he would have difficulty breathing."

She drew a doctor's attention to him shortly before 2am and he was X-rayed.

She said: "I never saw Mr Lewis with a spinal board or a collar."

An ambulanceman said Mr Lewis had refused a stiff collar three times on the journey to hospital.

PC Ivan Spence, who went to the pub shortly after the attack, said: "His face and his shirt had blood on them. They were covered in blood."

Other witnesses said Brown repeatedly kicked and punched Mr Lewis.

Brown denies murder. The case continues.

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