A farm business is to be sentenced for a health and safety breach after an escaped cow killed a teacher on a family walk.

Marian Clode, 61, was on an Easter break in Northumberland in 2016 when she was tossed over a gate by the cow which had repeatedly charged at her.

Alistair Nixon, on behalf of JM Nixon and Sons, which runs Swinhoe Farm in Belford, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday to admit failing to ensure the safety of persons, other than employees, by exposing them to risks to their safety from the movement of cattle

Cattle were being moved from their winter quarters to summer grazing when a group of cows and calves escaped containment and headed along an enclosed bridlepath and out of sight over the brow of a hill.

Heading in the opposite direction was Mrs Clode, her husband, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.

The family managed to get over a barbed wire fence out of the way of the livestock but one cow repeatedly charged at Mrs Clode and tossed her over a gate into a field, causing serious spinal injuries.

She died days later in hospital.

Judge Tim Gittins was told the reason why the cow may have gone into “fight mode” could not be precisely determined.

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Tom Gent, representing the farm business, said Mr Nixon “bitterly regretted” not going after the escaped cows while he gathered a larger group of cattle by the winter sheds.

Judge Gittins adjourned the case on Wednesday to pass sentence on Friday morning.

Mrs Clode, a primary school teacher, was born in Londonderry and lived in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.