A war hero who survived the D-Day landings died at a nursing home where police questioned weaknesses in his care, an inquest heard.

Lawrence Harrington was admitted to The Pines rest home in Furze Hill, Hove, in January.

Staff let his condition deteriorate after he was admitted in fragile but relatively good health following treatment for a fall at hospital and he died in May.

The inquest at Hove Crown Court heard yesterday the 85-year-old had suffered massive weight loss, developed terrible pressure sores on his legs and had been given the wrong dose of diamorphine in the days before he died.

Doctors initially presumed the cause was old age, complicated by the fact he was a non-insulin dependent diabetic.

He had also been suffering from arthritis and high blood pressure and been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years earlier.

But a police investigation was launched after Roger Berryman, the senior staff nurse at The Pines, admitted accidentally injecting the retired supervisor with 10mg of diamorphine when he was supposed to get between ten and 20mg of the powerful painkiller, steadily over a 24-hour period.

The probe concluded the overdose would not have caused Mr Harrington's death directly but did expose what looked like serious weaknesses in the quality of care he received.

Mr Harrington had ulcers on both heels when he died, as well as a skin infection which had caused his right leg to go black from the knee down.

His weight had also dropped from about 13st to under 11st.

Fiona Collins, an occupational therapist and expert in combating pressure sores, told the jury of five men and six women that more should have been done to protect Mr Harrington from developing the painful skin condition.

Ms Collins said: "He did not receive regular risk assessments or suitable pressure reducing equipment and was not repositioned frequently enough when sitting in his chair."

Earlier, the inquest was read a statement from Mr Harrington's widow Joan Rose.

She said she was concerned about her husband's care throughout his time at The Pines and claimed nurses never washed their hands when changing his dressings.

The couple, of Glenfalls Avenue, Patcham, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary a year ago and were happily living together until Christmas Day last year when Mr Harrington fell out of bed.

After being treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, for a bleeding chest ulcer, Mr Lawrence was frail but able to walk when he was discharged to The Pines.

Matron Janice Weir, in charge of the nursing home, told the inquest Mr Berryman was responsible for the pensioner's care and should have spotted his deteriorating condition earlier and alerted a doctor.

Mr Berryman, who qualified as a nurse in 1998 and was promoted at The Pines after only a few months of joining, took the stand himself and denied any accusations of neglect.

He also said he was not given adequate support or training by managers at the care home following his promotion.

The inquest continues.