Private action after mud on road case?
Private action after mud on road case?
By David Green
and Isabel Davies
A FARMER cleared of a charge of manslaughter after a "mud on the road" court case could now face a private prosecution.
David Winter of Red House Farm, Halesworth, Suffolk, was charged after Jennifer Townsley, a GPs wife, died when her kit car was involved in a collision with a Land Rover 15 months ago.
The accident did not directly involve Mr Winter but police investigations centred on the amount of mud on the road, near a field where sugar beet was being harvested and transported.
The farmer was arrested a few weeks later and eventually charged with manslaughter.
But after hearing a judges comments at a pre-trial hearing, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed.
At a High Court hearing last week Mr Winter was formally cleared of the charge.
But a passenger in the kit car, Lynn Barker, is now considering whether to launch a private prosecution against Mr Winter.
Mrs Barker, who lives at Southwold and was seriously hurt in the crash, has expressed her disappointment that the case did not go to trial.
Mr Winter said he did not want to add to a statement issued by his solicitor after the High Court hearing.
"The last 15 months have been very difficult," said the farmer.
In his statement he referred to the "nightmare" period since the accident. "I cannot begin to describe how much this prosecution has affected my family and me but we hope that we can put these events behind us and resume our normal life," he said.
Mr Winter also thanked the many people who had sent offers of help or messages of support.
"We derived great comfort and hope from knowing that so many people believed I was not guilty of this terrible charge."
The court case has prompted the NFU to review its guidance on liability and mud on the road. But even this is unlikely to be prescriptive, warned NFU health and safety transport adviser Lisa Wise. "The only safe advice regarding mud on the road is to avoid depositing it if at all possible, to clear up promptly and thoroughly and to warn other road users of any danger," she said.
Karen Jones of the Country Land and Business Association added that failure to clear up mud left by farm animals or vehicles on a road would be seen as an "intentional" deposit of a hazard to road users leaving farmers open to both criminal and civil negligence charges if an accident occurred. *