Jurors have been told that a Portishead nurse was ‘grossly negligent’ in her care of a 10-year-old girl who died at Weston General Hospital.

Carrie-Anne Nash, of Tansy Lane, denies being criminally negligent when she treated young Phoebe Willis with the trial continuing this week.

Phoebe’s illness meant she had to be fed through a tube which was connected to a mini-balloon button on her abdomen and her parents had to replace it every three or four months.

The court heard how in August 2012, Phoebe’s mum was not able to change the button, and took her daughter to Weston General Hospital.

Nash, a 34-year-old specialist in feeding tubes for a company called Nutricia, was called in to treat her.

But the tube was not inserted correctly, and Phoebe died of an infection two days later.

Nash is accused of ignoring ‘red flag’ indicators, which warned her the tube was not in Phoebe’s stomach.

Prosecuting, Sarah Whitehouse said: “Carrie-Anne Nash caused Phoebe’s death by grossly negligent conduct.

“This is how Miss Nash came to be charged with manslaughter; not because she wanted to kill Phoebe, or wanted Phoebe to die or to be harmed in any way, but because she acted contrary to national guidance, contrary to her employer’s safety protocols and contrary to her training.

“She provided a level of care to Phoebe that was so very far below the standard to be expected of a nurse with her specialist training that it can properly be described as criminal.”