A HEREFORDSHIRE medical expert has told a jury in the trial of a mother accused of poisoning her daughter that the girl did not need any of the medication she was given.

The girl was seen by experts in Hereford, Gloucester, Birmingham and Great Ormond Street hospitals over a period of years, Dr Neil Fraser said at Worcester Crown Court.

She had tests including a private MRI scan for headaches and none of the reports appeared to show any abnormality, he said.

Dr Fraser, who was supervising doctor with Hereford children's services at the time, was the first medical expert to give evidence in the trial of Mary Kidson, of Dymock Road, Ledbury.

The 55-year-old denies three charges of administering poisonous or noxious substances so as to endanger life or cause grievous bodily harm to her daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

She is accused of giving the girl hydrocortisone tablets, oestrogen and thyroid extract between December, 2010 and March, 2013.

On one occasion, Dr Fraser told the jury, the girl had been taken to hospital in Gloucester by her mother who thought she had symptoms of meningitis but it turned out to be just a cold.

She was also said to have difficulty processing speech and was taken to Great Ormond Street In London where speech therapists decided there was no real problem.

Her mother also reported she was suffering from lethargy but this was a "non-specific symptom common in teenagers," he said.

John Causer, prosecuting, has told the jury Kidson went "doctor shopping" until she found one who agreed with her treatment.

Dr Fraser said the girl did not have a condition requiring hydrocortisone tablets and the long term effects could have been life limiting if it had gone on unchecked. She was given three times the amount given to adults and sometimes a higher dose, he said.

She was not abnormally late in puberty and had no need for oestrogen and she was taken off thyroid extract following the intervention of Hereford social services, returning to normal within a few weeks.

"The main effect of the medication would be psychological," he said.

"Being shopped around dozens of doctors in different cities in different countries and having lots of unnecessary tests and being made to feel you are abnormal is very damaging."

Kidson adopted treatment recommended by Thierry Hertoghe in Belgium which Dr Fraser disagreed with.

The jury heard that the 16-year-old girl's father went to the family GP about the treatments and information was passed on to social services. The treatment was stopped in March 2013 and two months afterwards, she showed signs of physically being normal, Dr Fraser said.

Ken Hind, defending, said Thierry Hertoghe was highly respected, had written a number of books and addressed international conferences. The girl, he said, had been taken from her mother by social services and put into foster care. She had a breakdown and was in hospital in the north of England.

The trial continues.