A doctor and health trust killed a primary school teacher after they botched her recovery from surgery following an emergency caesarean, a court heard today.

Dr Errol Cornish, 68, is charged with gross negligence manslaughter for his role in mother-of-two Frances Cappuccini's death at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Pembury, after she gave birth to son Giacomo in October 2012.

The court heard that a second doctor, Pakistani born Nadeem Azeez, would have been on trial but was no longer in the country.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which they worked for, is accused of corporate manslaughter on the grounds that they failed to check Dr Azeez's qualifications.

Mrs Cappuccini, 30, who was affectionately known as 'Mrs Coffee' by her pupils at Offham Primary School in West Malling where she taught Year 1 for nine years, suffered a cardiac arrest and major blood loss within hours of the birth.

She left behind her husband Tom and their two sons Giacomo, now three, and his older brother Luca.

Inner London Crown Court heard she had gone into labour on the evening of October 8, 2012, hoping to have a natural birth, but due to complications she opted for an emergency caesarean, which was her second.

The procedure was initially a success and Giacomo was safely delivered, but after some time she became ill again and required further surgery to clear a post-partum haemorrhage in her uterus.

That surgery was a success and she was then placed in the care of her anaesthetist Dr Nadeem Azeez from 12.20pm onwards, whose job it was to bring her out of her general anaesthetic.

However during the next four hours there were a series of complications and Dr Azeez was eventually assisted by Dr Cornish for about 50 minutes from about 1pm.

The prosecution allege that the care administered to Mrs Cappuccini by Dr Azeez and Dr Cornish in the hours after the successful operation was inadequate and grossly negligent, resulting in her death.

The jury of 10 women and two men were told Dr Azeez was not included in the trial as he was not in the country, but had he been in the jurisdiction, he would have faced the same charge of manslaughter.

Prosecutor John Price QC said: "Within four hours, after the surgery, at 4.20pm Frances Cappuccini had died.

"She had gone into cardiac arrest, an issue with the function of the heart, and she did not recover from that.

"She was born on the 2nd of February 1982, and on the date of her death therefore she would have been 30 years of age.

"When she arrived at Tunbridge Wells Hospital the previous evening she had been a healthy young woman and her death was, of course, wholly unexpected and we say it was wholly avoidable.

"It is clear from an early stage that something had gone very badly wrong.

"Whatever did go wrong to cause the death of Frances Cappuccini, it was nothing to do with the bleeding that I have talked about. That problem has been addressed and dealt with in the operation that had ended at 12.20."

Speaking to the jury he said: "You are concerned with are the events that took place after 12.20pm in the early afternoon of that day.

"You are concerned with the period of four hours culminating in this lady's death.

"It is the prosecution case that what went wrong on the 9th of October so as to cause the death of Frances Cappuccini, were very serious failings in the adequacy in care and treatment she received from the two anaesthetists during that period, starting in this case once one of the two doctors took over at 12.20pm - importantly after the successful completion of the operation to stop the bleeding.

"The prosecution allege that the two anaesthetists failed, in what we submit in the elementary task in protecting her airway in order to ensure she recovered from the operation, and that she received adequate ventilation and that sufficient air was getting into her lungs.

"We also alleged it was their gross negligence which caused her to die."

The court heard that the trust which runs the hospital in Kent is accused of corporate manslaughter with regards to the hiring of Dr Azeez.

It is alleged the trust "failed to take reasonable care to ensure the anaesthetists involved in the care of Mrs Cappuccini held the appropriate qualifications and training" and failed to ensure "there was the appropriate level of supervision" of the treatment.

Dr Cornish, from Bromley, south East London, and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust deny the charges.

The trial continues.