A firefighter charged with the manslaughter of a farmer who was trampled to death by cows has had his case adjourned until 2 July.
Julian Lawford, 49, from Glastonbury, Somerset, appeared at Exeter Crown Court in connection with the death of 75-year-old Harold Lee. He is on bail.
It is alleged the siren from his fire engine may have frightened the cows.
Maybe there is more to it than meets the eye, they cannot seriously want to send him to prison for using his siren?
11 comments:
Why shouldn't he be in court for his actions? Are firemen exempt from the consequences of their actions? What exactly did he think sounding a siren next to a herd of cows would achieve? Were they going to part quietly to either side of the road to let him by? Or were they more likely to get spooked and stampede, putting anyone in their path in danger?
Because of his actions a man is dead, and I think he should be held to account for that.
I can't believe this is going to court. If the siren did frighten the cows, that is unfortunate,and the farmer's death is a tradgic accident.
The firefighter isn't to blame. Nobody is to blame. I don't know of any legislation which states that sirens should not be used if they may be heard by animals.
Jim- Is a trampling really a predictable outcome of using a siren near some cows? I don't think it is, so can't see how the fireman should be prosecuted.
This came up a while back - it seems there was some discussion with the farmers trying to move the cows, after the fire engine had been halted by them. It did NOT have them on when it approached the herd, but put them off afterward.
It's negligence - panicking a herd of large animals when there are people on the ground - though I'm not sure a prison sentence would be appropriate. A hefty fine and demotion should suffice.
AS JuliaM said, it wasn't the case of a fire engine going along the road with its siren on, causing some cows to stampede in a field further away. The engine came upon some cows being moved down the road (which is perfectly legal - probably on their way to be milked) and instead of waiting, turned his siren on, causing a stampede which killed an elderly farmer who was watching over the cows.
All road users have a duty of care to other road users, whether or not they are in a hurry (for legitimate reasons in this case).
There are often animals in the road in the countryside, especially horses, and road users have to take care around them. If a car drove past a horse and rider at high speed sounding its horn, and the horse threw the rider, would you consider the driver to be responsible? I would.
What were the full circs here?. If the engine was just on a training exercise or a cat up a tree then there may be a small case to answer. Still not deserving of jail tho. If it was a real fire and the crew were possibly on their way to save someone from death by fire there is NO case to answer.
Except that even if they were on their way to the Towering Inferno, they still have that duty of care.
If a car won't or can't get out of their way in time, they don't have the right to shunt it into a ditch. This is the same thing.
Not a lot of point getting to an emergency on time if you've caused several others on the way....
Jim if those are the full circumstances then there maybe a bit more of a case to answer.
From the way the reports are framed though it makes me wonder whether it is that clear cut, the BBC report states that "It is alleged the siren from his fire engine may have frightened the cows. ", which sounds as though the prosecution aren't certain that the siren led to the panicking cows.
I've seen a group of cows go into a bit of a run when I drove by the field they were in ( I drove a Sirion) . But a stampede? Cows are not that energetic.
Cows are pretty energetic if they get scared, like any animal. And a milking cow probably weighs between half and three quarters of a ton. That doesn't have to be moving very fast to knock you over, and if it stands on you are going to know about it. There are plenty of deaths caused by cattle every year, mostly walkers who get trampled by cows protecting their calves. They may look docile and easy-going, but get them riled and its a different story all together.
"There are plenty of deaths caused by cattle every year..."
Indeed. As always on the Internet, you can rely on someone to be watching, too.. ;)
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