A PLASTIC skeleton was used during a murder trial yesterday to help illustrate the fractures suffered by a frail, disabled woman.

Medical experts used the teaching device to show jurors at Teesside Crown Court the location of fractures on 55-year-old Irene Hood, who died on May 14.

Kenneth Hood, 57, of The Garth, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, has denied the murder of his wife, Irene.

He has also pleaded not guilty to two alternative charges of manslaughter, one alleging he caused her death by an assault and the other causing her death by gross neglect.

Earlier, Paul Worsley, prosecuting, had told the jury it was the Crown's contention that Mr Hood was criminally responsible for the death of his wife.

The court was told that Mrs Hood suffered from osteoporosis, diabetes and some years previously, had had her left leg amputated above the knee.

The jury was told how Mrs Hood was taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital on April 4, where she was treated for a fractured ankle and bed sores, but she died of pneumonia on May 14.

Giving evidence at the trial, Home Office pathologist James Sunter said that while the immediate cause of Mrs Hood's death had been pneumonia, the fractures had set off a chain of events that led to her fatal illness.

Dr Sunter told the hearing that X-rays taken of Mrs Hood after her death revealed fractures in several ribs, her left arm and right leg.

Also giving medical evidence was Professor Archie Malcolm, a pathologist and international expert on bones.

Prof Malcolm told the jury that while Mrs Hood had suffered from osteoporosis - brittle bones - the fractures in question were, in his opinion, the result of injuries.

He said the fracture of her leg was, in his view, most likely to have been caused by her ankle being held rigidly while her leg was twisted violently.

The trial continues.