The daughter of tragic Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar is expected to face trial later this year for the alleged manslaughter of her two-year-old son.

Samaya Rafiq, also known as Lorraine Dunbar, appeared at Bradford Crown Court today and was released on conditional bail until March 29.

She was told by the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Stephen Gullick, that her trial was likely to take place at Leeds Crown Court in September and would last at least two weeks.

Rafiq, 27, of Wheatley Close, White Abbey, Bradford, spoke only to confirm her name during the ten-minute hearing. Her husband sat in the public gallery.

Rafiq, who wore a full-length dress and a full-face burka with just her eyes uncovered, is charged with manslaughter and child neglect. It follows the death of her son Harris from methadone poisoning last July at a hostel in Allerton, Bradford, where the mother and child were living.

Her barrister, Yunis Valli, told the court the cause of death would not be the issue, but whether it was caused by one dose of methadone, or several, could be.

Rafiq was granted bail on condition that she lived at a hostel in Liverpool, did not contact witnesses and did not enter West Yorkshire except to go to court or her solicitors.

Single mother Andrea Dunbar wrote the controversial play, Rita, Sue and Bob Too. She died at the age of 29 from a brain haemorrhage in 1992.