A DOCTOR accused of killing a Blaenau Gwent schoolboy said she added an entry to his medical notes after he died.

Ryan Morse, 12, of Brynithel, died at home in the early hours of December 8, 2012 from the final stages of undiagnosed Addison’s Disease - a condition where the body cannot produce vital hormones needed to survive. 

Dr Lindsey Thomas, aged 42, of Copper Beech Drive, Tredegar, and Dr Joanne Rudling, aged 46, of Blackberry Way, Pontprennau, Cardiff, have both pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter for the unlawful killing of Ryan.

They were both GPs at Abernant Surgery in Abertillery, where Ryan was a patient, and the charges relate to two separate phone calls the doctors had with Ryan's mum Carol Morse on Friday, December 7 - the day before he

died.

Mrs Morse called the surgery in the morning and again in the evening after Ryan's symptoms failed to improve. On Friday night at around 11.10pm he fell asleep on the settee in the lounge and when his mum next checked

him, at around 4am, he had died. He weighed just four stone and one pound. 

Dr Rudling has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Both defendants are on bail.

Yesterday the court heard transcripts of police interviews with both GPs. 

Dr Rudling said on the Monday morning after Ryan's death at the weekend, she added a backdated entry into the computer system about the phone call she had with Carol Morse at 5.45pm on Friday. 

She told police: "I didn't put anything in there which isn't true. I didn't try and cover anything up. 

"If I do house calls I don't enter them until the next day and I always backdate."

When asked why she didn't record it contemporaneously, Dr Rudling said: "I was just distracted. We were getting the surgery ready to have the floor done."

The police arrived at the surgery later on Monday - just hours after the added entry.

In her police interview, Dr Thomas said she had taken a call with Carol Morse on the morning before the day he died. Dr Thomas claims she told Mrs Morse to give him paracetamol and call back if his symptoms became worse. 

In her interview Dr Thomas described being told by the surgery receptionist on Monday morning about Ryan's death. 

She said: "The first thing I said, did the mum phone back?

"I did give her very clear advice to phone back. I kept saying, why didn't she phone back, I don't understand."

Proceeding.