TWO people have denied the murder of a man in York who died two years after an assault.

Amanda Jane Moran, 28, and Andrew David Fowler, 42, each pleaded not guilty at Leeds Crown Court yesterday to the murder of Stephen John Eastwood, who died in May this year.

They are alleged to have caused head injuries to Mr Eastwood on 27 March, 2012, in Lawrence Street. He was 49 when he died earlier this year.

A provisional trial date had already been arranged for March 9 next year, but during a ten-minute hearing, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, heard Moran was pregnant and was expecting a child in April.

He was told the trial would therefore need to be put back to later in the year, in September if possible. The custody time limits for Fowler will run out on March 18, but he told the judge he would not object to a later trial date.

Richard Wright QC, defending Moran, said the trial was now estimated to last three weeks rather than two.

Judge Collier said he would need to consult if a High Court judge would be available in September or if the case could be released to a circuit judge. Meanwhile he told the defendants he would keep the original trial date at the moment “but it is likely to move.”

Fowler of Monkton Road, off Malton Road, York was further remanded in custody.

Moran is on bail with conditions including not to enter York, to live and sleep at an approved address in West Yorkshire and not to contact witnesses.