Murder trial date is set over death of NHS worker

A 40-YEAR-OLD man will go on trial later this year charged with murdering a healthcare worker who was stabbed to death.

Mother-of-three Victoria Woodhall, who worked at Rotherham General Hospital, was attacked in Windsor Crescent in the Middlecliffe area of Barnsley just before 5pm on Sunday.

Craig Woodhall, formerly of Windsor Crescent, Barnsley, appeared before Sheffield Crown Court yesterday for a 10-minute hearing.

He was remanded in custody and told his trial date had been provisionally fixed for September 28.

But Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told him that because of the “national medical emergency”, this date may have to be modified in the future.

The judge said: “All being well, it will proceed on that date but we live in slightly uncertain times and I cannot make any guarantees at this time.”

Judge Richardson said a further hearing had been fixed for May 4. There was no application for bail.

The judge sat in court but the defendant appeared by videolink and all counsel appeared by Skype.

South Yorkshire Police has said a post-mortem examination concluded Mrs Woodhall, 31, died from multiple stab wounds.

Tributes have been paid to the operating department practitioner by Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust.

Angela Wood, chief nurse at the trust, said: “She was a cherished and much-loved colleague working in our operating theatres.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by her friends, Donna Wetherall and Kelly Sims, to raise money towards funeral costs and to help her children, with more than £8,000 raised already.