A husband whose wife has admitted stealing £2.3 million from her employer is to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges himself next month.

Anthony Nickerson’s wife Julie, 54, pleaded guilty to stealing the money from JLA Ltd when she appeared at Bradford Crown Court alongside her husband in December.

She also admitted a charge of money laundering and fraud in relation to a false representation made to HM Customs and Excise.

At the same hearing Nickerson, 47, who was not charged with theft of the money, denied the money laundering and fraud offences and his three-day trial was fixed to start on April 7.

During a pre-trial hearing at Bradford Crown Court yesterday Nickerson, of Wade House Road, Shelf, also pleaded not guilty to a further fraud offence which relates to an allegation that he made a false insurance claim in respect of a holiday the couple were due to take June last year.

Prosecutor Peter Hampton confirmed that the issue in Nickerson’s case would be his '”state of knowledge”.

Judge Peter Benson told Nickerson he had to attend for his trial on April 7 and he renewed his conditional bail until that date.

Nickerson has to report to Halifax police station once a week and is prohibited from applying for any international travel documents.

His wife Julie is on bail and will be sentenced after her husband's trial.