Man denies manslaughter after fatal dog bite

A man whose dog fatally bit another man in West Yorkshire has denied manslaughter.

James Judge, 55, died after an incident on the old train line footpath off Blacker Lane in Wakefield on August 15.

On Wednesday, 55-year-old Lee Ellis, of Calder Grove in Wakefield, appeared at Leeds Crown Court where he pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.

At an earlier hearing, solicitor Rob Fones, representing Ellis, said there had been "a verbal altercation in regards to right of way".

The court heard the defendant was a self-employed farrier who had lived in the area for 30 years.

An inquest into Mr Judge's death was opened and adjourned last week.

A post-mortem examination gave a provisional cause of death as complications of a right leg wound caused by a dog bite.

The inquest heard Mr Judge was unmarried. He was born in Horbury, Wakefield, where he was also living at the time of his death.

Judge Tom Bayliss KC bailed Ellis until his trial, which is due to start on 17 May 2027 at Leeds Crown Court. A further pre-trial hearing was scheduled for 15 April.

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