Another triumph of justice, this time in England

Jury acquits farmer used forklift to remove drunken jobs car from his driveway

A farmer who used a forklift tractor to move a car parked on his land was today cleared of dangerous driving and criminal damage after telling the jury, 'An Englishman's home is his castle and my castle starts at that front gate'. 

Fourth-generation hill farmer Robert Hooper, 57, insisted he had a lawful right to defend his property, with his barrister arguing on the basis of a 400-year-old precedent set by the legendary jurist Sir Edward Coke.  

In a ruling known as Semayne's case, Sir Edward established the Common Law principle that everyone has the right to use reasonable force defend their home against intruders, and - while issuing his ruling - uttered the famous phrase.  

Jurors today found themselves with the task of deciding whether the same principle applied to what happened one day in August last year. 

Mr Hooper told the court he had politely asked a group of men to leave because their car was blocking his front gate. He said one of the men, apprentice diamond driller Charlie Burns, punched him and he felt he had to act due to feeling 'frightened and threatened'. 

The 21-year-old, from Tyneside, then tried to stop Mr Hooper from flipping his friend's car by flinging himself at the cab of the vehicle and kicking its tyres. After police arrived at the scene, footage - seen by millions - shows Burns muttering 'f*****g farmers', before pulling down his trousers and exposing his backside to the camera.

A shirtless Charlie Burns, who had been visiting the area that day and had drunk up to seven bottles of lager, was knocked to the floor by the vehicle's lifting forks.

Mr Hooper had told the jury he was punched by Mr Burns when he first politely asked the men to leave as they were blocking access on what was a busy day on the farm.

He told the court he was aware of an 'influx' of youths visiting the area that summer, causing anti-social behaviour, littering and damaging walls. 

The farmer claimed the younger man punched him twice in the farm buggy he was driving, bursting his lip.

Mr Hooper told the court: 'I thought it is time to get out of there, and I said 'If you don't move it, I will'.

'My mind was racing.

'I thought we have a bit of a problem here, there's two of them, half my age, I didn't know what they had in terms of weapons, or what they were capable of doing.

'I thought if the car was off the property, that would be them off the property, out of the way.'

Mr Hooper said he was defending his property and himself.

He said: 'I felt threatened and an Englishman's home is his castle, and my castle starts at that front gate.' 

Asked by defence barrister Michael Rawlinson why he did not simply call the police, Hooper replied: 'I have had quite a number of burglaries at the farm over the years, about eight in total.

'We have not had the best response from the police and there was not time for anyone to be coming I did not think.

'There is an unmanned police station at Barnard Castle about 15 miles away and the next one is at Shildon and it would take an hour to get there from Shildon.' 

The police were once used to protect criminals from angry villagers — their increasing absence may work to modern criminals’ disadvantage

Mr.. Charles burns displays a bit of contempt for peace officers