A WHITEHAVEN woman whose husband and son are accused of her manslaughter was too frail and unwell when she arrived at hospital to survive intensive care, a jury heard.

Dorothy Morgan, 71, was admitted to Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital on the morning of January 25, 2021.

Her husband Robert Morgan, 60, and her son by another man, 52-year-old David Holyoak, have pleaded not guilty to her manslaughter “through neglect.”

On the second day of their trial at Carlisle Crown Court, a jury heard evidence from the medical practitioners who dealt with Mrs Morgan after paramedics delivered her to the hospital after collecting her from her home.The Mail: Robert Morgan (left) and David Holyoak (right)

This happened after Robert Morgan, having returned to the family's Calder Avenue home in Whitehaven from a night shift, made a 999 call, reporting that his wife was unwell, the court heard.

In that call, the jury heard, he told the call-handler that Mrs Morgan had been “trying to starve herself” and that she had refused to let him get her professional help.

Among the witnesses to testify was Dr Samantha Sailer.

She was the senior clinician in the A&E Department when Mrs Morgan was brought in. The doctor confirmed that Mrs Morgan was “very unwell” at the time of her arrival, with a blue tinge fingers and toes.

“She was what we would term as being in ‘shut down,’” said Dr Sailer.

She confirmed that Mrs Morgan did respond to her voice and to pain but she was not following any commands. Under questioning from Iain Simkin KC, Dr Sailer confirmed that she had spoken over the phone to Robert Morgan about his wife.

She   said he told her that Dorothy Morgan had in the last few weeks being sitting on the settee at the couple’s Calder Avenue home and “had not wanted to move.”

The doctor confirmed that Robert Morgan told her he had returned from a night shift at his job in Barrow to find his wife “slumped on the settee” and “unresponsive.” It was at that point that he called an ambulance.

When Mrs Morgan arrived at hospital, her blood pressure was so low it was “unrecordable”. Her heart rate was very low, this being suggestive of a person who was about to go into cardiac arrest, said Dr Sailer.

The doctor confirmed also that medical staff had cut away Mrs Morgan’s clothing, which was heavily contaminated with old and fresh urine and faeces. “Your impression was that she had septicaemia?” asked Mr Simkin.

“Yes,” said the doctor. “I’ve worked in A&E for more than 25 years and that’s what she looked like.” Dr Sailer was also asked about the medical assessment reached by her and a consultant colleague about how to treat Mrs Morgan.

She said: “We were both in agreement that she was so unwell and so frail that it would not be appropriate to transfer her to intensive care; that she would not survive intensive care admission.

"When you go into intensive care, they do a lot of very invasive things.

“She was so frail she would not have survived that level of intervention that happens to you on intensive care.” It was decided that the best course of action was to provide Mrs Morgan with antibiotics, fluids, and “comfort care.”

Mrs Morgan died on February  4, 2021.

The prosecution case is is that Mrs Morgan was "simply left to die" by the defendants and that, by the time she was admitted to hospital in Whitehaven, she was so unwell her death was inevitable. 

Both defendants told police they did not seek medical help earlier because they had  been following Mrs Morgan’s instructions.

The trial continues.