Sign up to FREE email alerts from YorkshireLive - ExaminerLive Daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A former soldier appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday accused of causing the death of Meltham cycling champion John Radford by dangerous driving.

Michael Gledhill, 23, appeared before a judge on the day a funeral service was held for dad-of-two Mr Radford.

The former chairman of cycling charity Huddersfield CTC was cremated at a private family service in Huddersfield.

Mr Radford, 70, suffered serious head injuries when he came off his bike on the A616 between New Mill and Brockholes on July 31, 2013. He died in November last year.

A celebration of Mr Radford’s life was held in December. His cremation was delayed for a further post-mortem examination to be carried out.

Gledhill, of Bramble Walk, Holmfirth, appeared before the judge for a preliminary hearing when a timetable was set for the case.

He is accused of causing the death of Mr Radford by dangerous driving but his representative, Mr Nicholas Johnson, told the court no pleas were being indicated at this stage.

A plea and case management hearing will be heard on April 2 after the prosecution has served its case. A trial date was provisionally set for November 9 with an estimate of five days.

The Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC said he would consider by the next hearing an application to extend Gledhill’s representation to have a Queen’s Counsel saying the case was “quite unusual in many respects.”

Gledhill was granted unconditional bail until the next hearing and was told by then he must have provided details of his defence.

Judge Collier also told him it was a pity given the history of the case that a trial date could not be fixed sooner but there were no judges available to do so.