A woman facing allegations of cruelty to farm animals at a grade I listed mansion in a village north of York has stated she will deny the charges.

Solicitors acting on behalf of Pamela Josephine Louise Palmer, 62, sent a fax to the prosecuting solicitors to say she would be pleading not guilty.

Phil Brown, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the charity did not accept Palmer’s pleas.

After York magistrates heard Palmer had sent a doctor’s note in January to the court office saying she would be unfit to attend court for three months, they ordered her to attend their court for a case management hearing on May 26. They also set a trial date of July 20 for the case to be heard at Selby Magistrates Court.

Palmer, now of Old Stockbridge Road, Sutton Scotney, Winchester, faces seven charges of animal cruelty committed between January 8 and April 8 last year at Sheriff Hutton Hall, where she then lived.

The prosecution alleges she neglected the medical and basic needs of Hereford cows and bulls and sheep to the extent some of them died and others were in very poor condition. Her son, Joseph Palmer, now of The Croft, Sheriff Hutton, was previously convicted in his absence of seven similar charges. His application to have the case reopened was refused when he appeared before the court after the trial.

Sentencing for Joseph Palmer, who attended yesterday’s hearing, was adjourned until July 20 and he was released on unconditional bail.