AN East Lancashire man has appeared in court charged with the unlawful killing of a nursing home patient.

Denis Anthony Latham, 32, of Brook Street, Rishton is jointly charged with the killing of Marion Ethel Dennis, 77 along with Barbara Jean Campbell, 60, of Glasgow.

Both appeared before High Bailiff Andrew Williamson at the High Bailiff's Court in Douglas on the Isle of Man.

The pair worked as nursing staff at the Ballastowell Gardens residential nursing home in Ramsey on the north of the island, where Mrs Dennis, a retired shopkeeper, was a patient. Mrs Dennis had been at the home, which is licenced for 56 residents, for only a short time having been transferred from another home.

They were charged with the unlawful killing last year after the Isle of Man coroner called for a police investigation following Mrs Dennis' death at the island's Nobles Hospital on July 20, 1999.

At the opening of an inquest in November 1999, Dr Martin Bartoss, of Nobles, told the the Isle of Man coroner the cause of death was heart and kidney failure with pressure sores a contributory factor.

However the inquest heard that a Home Office pathologist attributed Mrs Dennis' death to broncho pneumonia, kidney failure, septicemia, infected ulcers and a stroke.

Latham and Campbell were both given conditional bail and ordered to re-appear at the High Bailiff's Court on March 8.