A man accused of punching his ex-girlfriend in the face and then intimidating her during the investigation will go on trial next year.

Kevin Rowland, 42, appeared unrepresented before a judge at Mold Crown Court on Friday (September 27) over two charges to which he had pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing.

He denies causing actual bodily harm against the woman on August 10, 2022, in Castle Caereinion, near Welshpool, and intimidation by sending her flowers while at HMP Berwyn between August 10 and December 15, 2022.

READ MORE | Kevin Rowland faces trial over assaulting woman

Rowland, who appeared in court via video link from custody, told the judge that he had been on the phone every day waiting for his national insurance number which came in the post while he was in custody.

"It's taken two weeks to have my first phone call to my mother and now I have my national insurance number," Rowland explained.

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"I will next need to speak to my solicitor. I’ve literally got the number in my pocket which is going to lock the next stage of representation."

Judge Rhys Rowlands said he would adjourn the plea and trial preparation hearing to Friday, October 11, which would give the defendant's solicitor time to apply for legal aid.

A trial for Rowland, of Guinea Lane in Weston-under-Redcastle, near Wem in north Shropshire, was fixed for March 5, 2025.