She was testifying at the trial of Maradona’s seven-person medical team, which is accused of gross negligence over the death of the Argentine football legend at the age of 60.

“The manipulation was total and horrible,” Gianinna told the court in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, near where Maradona died while convalescing after surgery for a brain clot.

Gianinna said the medics convinced her and her siblings that their father could recuperate safely at his rented home in the suburb of Tigre.

She said the doctors presented this as a “serious” option and assured her that his residence would be well-equipped in medical terms.

“I trusted these three people, who only manipulated us and left my son without a grandfather,” she added, referring to neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and nurse Carlos Diaz.

The defendants face prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent, pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.

A key question at the heart of the trial is whether the decision to allow Maradona to convalesce at home instead of a medical facility endangered his life.

The defendants argue that the hard-living star, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes.

The larger-than-life star of the 1986 World Cup died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema — a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs — two weeks after the operation.

The first trial over Maradona’s death was annulled last year following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.