A CANCER sufferer allegedly murdered by his doctor hid the severity of his illness from relatives, a court was told yesterday.

Social Services records covering the two months before 59-year-old Frank Moss's death were read to the jury at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

They stated: "Clearly Alison (his daughter) doesn't know her father's prognosis.

"He has less than three months' survival. Frank is aware of his prognosis."

The court also heard that, two days before his death, Mr Moss, of Eldon, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, made plans to sell his beloved vintage tractor.

Giving evidence, friend Mary Thompson said Mr Moss had spoken to her husband, Alan, about selling the vehicle so he could give the money from its sale to his daughter.

Mrs Thompson, a retired nurse, said she had visited Mr Moss, who had cancer of the lung and brain, at his home about two days before he died.

She said: "He was an ill man, he couldn't get around very well at all.

"When we were there he got up to go to the toilet, so he was still mobile, but was weak. He didn't appear to be in pain."

Mr Moss is one of three men Dr Howard Martin, who was a GP and partner in a County Durham medical practice group at the time, is accused of murdering with lethal doses of opiate drugs, including morphine.

Mr Moss's teenage granddaughter, Vicky Marie, described taking a phone call from her grandfather the day before he died, asking for Dr Martin to be called.

Miss Moss, who had lived with her grandfather for several months prior to his final illness, said: "I just came in from school and the phone was ringing.

"My grandad was on the phone, he was a bit out of breath and it sounded like his chest was wheezing.

"He asked me to ask my mam to phone Dr Martin."

She said she then passed on the message and her mother, Alison Moss, called for the doctor before driving to Mr Moss's house.

On Thursday, Alison Moss told the court that the GP visited her father that afternoon and gave him an injection to help with his breathing and said he did not expect him to be alive the next day.

The doctor is said to have returned at about 10pm that night, March 13, 2003, to administer another injection. Mr Moss died at home in the early hours of the following morning.

Dr Martin is also accused of the murder of Stanley Weldon, 74, of Coundon Grange, near Bishop Auckland, and Harry Gittins, 74, of Newton Aycliffe.

The 71-year-old, who now lives in Gywnedd, North Wales, denies all charges.

The trial continues.