A TRIAL date has been set for a man charged with 13 different counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals including more than 300 sheep, 17 horses, four cows and a dog.

James Linsley, 29, from Boldron, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, faces 13 charges in relation to animals found at Woodside Farm, West Layton, North Yorkshire, on Monday, March 28, 2013.

He is charged offences of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to provide for the protected animals by the RSPCA.

A trial date has been set for the week beginning July 7 at Northallerton Magistrates’ Court, with prosecutions being brought by the RSPCA and North Yorkshire trading standards officers.

District judge Adrian Lower allowed an appeal made by Kevin Campbell, prosecuting, for a section 20 of the animal welfare act order to be made to allow the RSPCA to take ownership of the 17 horses and the dog with a view to sell them.

The surviving sheep and cows have already been sold.