A 65-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of a terror attack hero from Accrington.

Jacqueline Higson will now face trial on April 14 next year.

Higson, who appeared in the dock at Bradford Crown Court wearing a black and white patterned top and black trousers, cried and clutched her hands together throughout the hearing.

Darron Coster, a hero of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, was killed in Jack Lane, Wigglesworth, a village northwest of Skipton, on July 14, 2021, when his red Ducati motorcycle was in collision with an orange Vauxhall Corsa.

Family members of Mr Coster, who was from Accrington, were in court for the brief plea and trial preparation hearing, as were relatives of Higson, of Robinson Street, Chatburn.

A former soldier in the Royal Military Police, Mr Coster had gone to Manchester Arena on the night of the Ariane Grande concert on May 22, 2017, to collect his son and his son’s friends, and used his military training to provide first aid support to injured concertgoers.

He used a belt and handbag strap as tourniquets to help victims and was described as “a hero” by the chair of the inquiry into the bombing.

Suicide bomber Salman Abedi murdered 22 people in the attack as concertgoers exited the arena, and injured many more.

Higson’s trial is expected to last five days. She was remanded on unconditional bail.