A HEALTH trust was fined £50,000 yesterday for the death of a woman who was lowered into a bath of scalding water.

The court heard that the tragedy could have been avoided had a £750 temperature valve been fitted to the bath.

Catherine Hourie, 39, who had severe learning difficulties, died at Prudhoe Hospital, Northumberland, on August 29, 1999, five days after suffering severe burns to her lower body.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that out of 30 baths at the hospital, all but two had been fitted with temperature regulating valves. The remaining two had been identified as needing them.

David Rowland, prosecuting, said: "Miss Hourie was unable to speak and communicated by making noises or using facial expressions.

"The care assistant noticed she became anxious as she made contact with the water but assumed it was because she had been placed in a hoist, as opposed to the temperature of the water.

"It may well have been the case that the nurse had simply become used to turning on the hot tap, her being more used to using the baths which had thermostatic mixing valves fitted to them."

The care assistant had been employed by the hospital for less than six months and had not received any formal training, the court heard.

Mr Rowland said that engineers measured the water temperature and found it to be 68 degrees Centigrade.

"It is hard to imagine what was going through Catherine Hourie's mind in the few minutes she was in that bath."

Miss Hourie's father, James, and wife Nelli, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, admitted her to Prudhoe Hospital aged five because her illness meant she could not speak, suffered epileptic fits and did not seem to recognise them.

Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust admitted breaching the Health and Safety Act.

Jeremy Freedman, defending, said staff training had since been upgraded and safety procedures improved.

''It was not cost cutting but sub-standard sloppy procedures that resulted in this outcome," he said.

Judge John Milford, who fined the trust £50,000 plus £4,567 costs, said: "The hospital has a very good safety record and this was an isolated incident - but it was an accident waiting to happen."

A spokesman for Prudhoe and Northgate NHS Care Trust said: "We have apologised to the family and have expressed our deepest sympathies to them."