A care home could be fined as much as £100,000 for negligence tomorrow after a vulnerable resident died from choking on her breakfast.

Beryl Newton, 81, who died at Thameside Residential Care Home in West Molesey, choked on part of an improperly prepared sausage on May 30, 2011.

A judge will decide if her carer's poor English contributed to her death.

Mrs Newton had been put on a soft food diet by a speech and language therapist in January,

She was meant to be supervised at all times when eating and drinking by carer Leongina Domanicka.

But she admitted that due to her poor English she did not fully understand what was written on the care plan and did not like to keep written records, often asking other workers to do them for her.

Miss Domanicka, who had been employed by Anchor Trust since 2004, had been demoted to housekeeping status in another care home but she was made a key care worker at Thameside in January 2009.

Prosecutor Malcolm Gibney said: "She was unable or unwilling to write in English. It’s equally clear that she struggled to read other people’s handwriting."

Miss Domanicka admitted she did not know the word 'choking’ and was unable to respond properly when it became clear Mrs Newton had eaten some of the unmashed sausage and was struggling to breathe.

Mrs Newton suffered a cafe coronary, when a large object becomes lodged and causes nearly complete airway obstruction, and died after eating the sausage unsupervised when Miss Domanicka had left her for a few moments.

In a victim impact statement read out in Guildford Crown Court yesterday Mrs Newton’s son, Keith Newton, said: "My sisters, brother and I would describe her as loving, caring, generous, good humoured, level headed, kind and a really good mum.

"We all miss mum terribly and all feel that she would be alive today had she been given a better level of care."

He also spoke of an accident that left Mrs Newton with burns, but she was unable to say what happened.

An investigation by Thameside concluded another resident had spilt some hot liquid over her.

Asked how far below the standard Anchor Trust fell, defence counsel Tanyia Robinson said: "Anchor Trust did not fall far below. It’s accepted of course that we fell below."

Judge Noel Lucas spoke of a systematic failure that had taken place but stressed he would have to be certain if the failure was the fault of the key worker or from those in executive positions.

Judge Lucas stressed that the fine could not reflect the value of a human life, but would reflect the severity of the offence.

Anchor Trust previously admitted liability to five charges relating to incidents between January 16, 2009, and June 9, 2011.

They included a failure to ensure the safety of a person in its care, failure to make a suitable risk assessment and failure to take into account Miss Domanicka's capabilities in regards to health and safety.

The trust also admitted failing to ensure its employees were adequately health and safety trained and failing to make sure Miss Domanicka was fully prepared to deal with residents after returning to work following a serious heart operation.

Bob Newton, Mrs Newton’s husband, said in his statement: "I don’t feel I’ve been told the truth.

"We were very close to our 60th wedding anniversary and I would’ve liked to get there. I was a lucky man to have her as my wife and my best friend.

"I don’t think Beryl should have died in the way she did."

Anchor Trust will be sentenced tomorrow.