A granddad who died of a suspected heart attack could have survived if he had been hooked up to a monitor correctly, an inquest heard.

Stephen Nial, 64, of Lawrence Avenue, Witham, had a history of chest pain and was admitted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford on October 19, 2012, after he suffered cardiac problems.

Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Mr Nial, who leaves four sons, was taken into a side room in the hospital’s Terling ward, where his heart was to be monitored.

But the inquest revealed that, although a small monitor had been switched on on Mr Nial, it had not been connected to the central monitor, which would alarm nurses if there was a problem.

When a nurse checked on him at 1.25am on October 20- an hour and 20 minutes since the last check - he was found unresponsive and, despite resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead at 1.40am.

See this week's Witham Times for the full story.