A WOMAN has told a court she did not put food into the mouth of a man who choked to death on a train to Barrow.

Nicole Cavin, 22, denies manslaughter along with her brother David Noble, 32, following the death of David Clark, 56, on March 2 2019.

The siblings stand accused of “force feeding” Mr Clark after a piece of meat the size of a golf ball was removed from his throat by paramedics.

But giving evidence at Preston’s Nightingale Court, Cavin insisted: “I didn’t put any food towards his mouth or in his mouth. That is the truth.”

In a police interview days after Mr Clark’s death Cavin told officers she put a chip and some meat into his mouth.

She also said she saw her brother feed 'doner meat and salady stuff' to Mr Clark.

She said she had been 'having a laugh' with the others around the table and had joined in with her brother putting food in Mr Clark’s mouth.

“It was just a joke,” she told the officers.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

But giving evidence at Preston North End’s Tom Finney suite, she said: “You have no idea how much I regret saying that.”

She said the account she had given during her interview was not correct, adding: “I was terrified and I felt they wanted an answer from me.

“I panicked and just went with them. The way they were suggesting they had been told I had been seen putting something in his mouth… I was scared. I had never been in this situation before.”

She said Mr Clark had boarded the train at Lancaster and had helped himself to food which was offered to him at the table.

She had not put any food into Mr Clark’s mouth and could not be 100% sure her brother had either, she said.

Cavin described Mr Clark, known to his friends as “Titch” as “a nice gentleman”, adding he was kind and funny.

When asked if she had done anything which could have caused him harm, Cavin said: “No. Only removing the food from his mouth. I feel like I might have pushed it further down by accident. I don’t know.”

On the day of the train journey, Cavin had consumed eight pints of lager and had bought another four cans and a mixed kebab when they changed trains in Preston.

She described herself as being six or seven drunk on a scale of one to ten.

She said: "I did not put any food in his mouth. No-one had the right to do that."

When Mr Clark collapsed, Cavin tried to help him.

Cavin, of Market Street, Grange, and Noble, of Main Street, Grange, deny manslaughter.