Published at 12:29, Tuesday, 05 February 2013

A man from west Cumbria has admitted seriously hurting another man in a fight.

But 22-year-old Daniel Hodgson has denied causing the injury by kicking his victim.

And now a judge is going to have to hear evidence to decide for himself exactly what happened in the incident.

Hodgson, of John Street, Moor Row, near Cleator Moor, was charged after he was involved with several others in an attack on David Proud.

He pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm. But he did so only on the basis that he had not kicked Mr Proud – a basis the prosecution refused to accept.

A fact-finding hearing will be held on March 28 at which witnesses will have to tell a judge what they saw.

Hodgson will be sentenced after that.

In the meantime, he was remanded on bail for a pre-sentence report, on condition that he does not contact any prosecution witnesses.

Judge Paul Batty QC warned him that whether he went to prison could depend on whether he was found to have kicked Mr Proud.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk