A farming company has pleaded not guilty to a health and safety offence after a primary school teacher from Tameside was killed by a cow while on holiday. Marian Clode died while on an Easter break in Northumberland with her family on April 3, 2016.
They were staying at a holiday cottage at Swinhoe Farm, around two miles north west of the village of Belford. Ms Clode, 61, is said to have been killed by a stampeding cow.
Read more:
J M Nixon & Son, based at Swinhoe Farm in Belford, are charged with 'failing to ensure the health and safety of persons other than employees by failing to conduct an undertaking in such a way as to ensure, as far as reasonably practical, persons not in employment who may have been affected thereby were not exposed to risks to their safety from the movement of cattle'.
Alistair Nixon, 62, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court and pleaded not guilty on behalf of the partnership, ChronicleLive reports. Judge Paul Sloan KC set a trial date for November 27 next year with a time estimate of eight days.
Ms Clode, a primary school teacher, had been on holiday with her husband Christopher, daughter Lucy, son in law Kevin and two grandchildren, aged seven and eight. In a statement at the time Mrs Clode’s family said the mother-of-three was a 'hardworking and dedicated teacher', who 'lived for her family' and 'adored and doted on her four grandchildren'.
They added: "It's heartbreaking she never got to see them grow up, or meet her fifth grandchild."
Read more of today's top stories here
READ MORE:
- 'Cup of coffee saved me from being raped... it might have saved my life'
- Police release CCTV footage after three attempted kidnappings that saw schoolgirls targeted
- 'He's abusive but I can't afford to leave' : the hidden victims of the cost of living crisis
- As the nights draw in, women and girls in Manchester feel a familiar sense of dread
- The streets where women have to choose between period products and food
