BOTH defendants in a manslaughter trial have denied their own involvement while blaming each other for the death of a Weymouth pensioner.

Aaron Kirk Brown, 38, and from Weymouth, and 28-year-old Hannah Jayne Rebecca Day have both pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter and attempted robbery of John Cornish, who died in his home on The Esplanade aged 75 on September 6, 2019.

It is alleged the pair assaulted Mr Cornish and tried to steal bank cards and cash from him, causing him to have a heart attack and die.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court heard from Michelle Lane, a nurse who was prescribing Brown with methadone - a drug given to those addicted to heroin - in September 2019.

She said that, during a meeting between her and Brown on September 24 2019, Brown told her his version of events of what happened on the night Mr Cornish died. He told Mrs Lane that Day had suggested they rob some drug dealers for money and had invited Brown back to Mr Cornish’s home to have sex with her.

He had told Mrs Lane that Day started shouting at Mr Cornish and was ‘controlling the old man with her voice’ before ‘flying at the man, hitting him in his face and body, physically attacking him’. He told Mrs Lane that Mr Cornish then ‘went purple’ so he left and called an ambulance.

The jury also heard from Rebecca Cole, a specialist addictions nurse at Dorset County Hospital, who described a conversation between herself and Day when she was admitted to hospital on September 19 last year. Day was known to Mrs Cole as a heroin addict.

Mrs Cole said: “She said that she would probably be charged with manslaughter or perverting the course of justice.”

Day then blamed Brown for the death of Mr Cornish while denying her own involvement, claiming he pushed him, hit him and poked him with a knife.

“She said her and Aaron had gone upstairs for the night and left him downstairs for dead. I repeated that back to her because I was shocked and she said ‘yes’.

“She didn’t appear to have any remorse.” She added that Day told her Brown attacked Mr Cornish for drug money and that Brown had sexually assaulted her the morning after the incident while she was under the influence of Xanax.

The trial continues.