A 21-YEAR-old man accused of causing death by dangerous driving after an accident which claimed the life of a Suffolk man "wholly denies" the charge, a court heard yesterday.

By James Mortlock

A 21-YEAR-old man accused of causing death by dangerous driving after an accident which claimed the life of a Suffolk man "wholly denies" the charge, a court heard yesterday.

Martin Law appeared before St Edmundsbury magistrates yesterday in connection with the death early on New Year's Day of young father Wayne Goode on the A134 road near Sudbury.

Law, whose family comes from Haverhill, is charged with causing the death of Mr Goode by driving a Ford Transit van dangerously on the A134.

He is further charged that on the same day he failed to stop after an accident, failed to report an accident to police as soon as practically possible, drove a Ford Transit otherwise than in accordance with a licence and used a motor vehicle without insurance.

St Edmundsbury Magistrates Court heard that the main charge against Law, who gave his address as Alyssum Walk, Colchester, could only be heard in the Crown Court and the other four allegations were "inextricably linked" to the death by dangerous driving allegation.

The panel of three magistrates sent the case against Law, who is living with his girlfriend, to Ipswich Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on January 30.

Prosecutor Ian Devine asked the court to release Law, who was arrested at an address in Colchester early on Monday, on conditional bail.

Jennifer Green, for Law, said her client "wholly denies" all the allegations which had been brought against him.

The magistrates released unemployed Law from custody on conditional bail. He has to live at the address in Alyssum Walk and to report to Colchester police station on Tuesdays and Fridays between 2pm and 4pm and the day before he attends court.

He has also had to surrender his passport to police and is forbidden from entering Suffolk except to attend court or meet with his legal advisors. He is only allowed to return to his parents' home in Haverhill if he is accompanied by a police officer.

The magistrates further ruled he should not contact prosecution witnesses, except Nicola Cole, his girlfriend.

Mr Goode, 28, who lived in Broomhill Road, Ipswich, with his partner Nikki Page, also 28, and 17-month-old baby Sonny, died after a collision with a vehicle in the early hours of New Year's Day.

He had been celebrating with his girlfriend at the Saracens Head pub in Newton Green, near Sudbury.