Bryan Griffiths cleared of manslaughter

Just in: Griffiths has been found not guilty of the manslaughter of Trevor Morse. News story here.

Simon Hart of the Countryside Alliance comments: "It is for the police to enforce the law of the land, not self-appointed vigilantes. Surely Trevor Morse’s death makes that clear?" Read the full article here.

With impeccable taste and timing, Griffiths' colleagues have vowed to continue their "fight" against the Warwickshire Hunt, declaring "the war is far from over."

Griffiths has told the Mirror "I've had a lot of sleepless nights. It's something I shall live with for the rest of my life."

From the Telegraph:

It can also be disclosed that John Curtin, 47, who was a passenger in the gyrocopter when Mr Morse died, is an animal rights' extremist with a string of convictions.

In the transcript of an interview he gave six years ago, Mr Curtin boasted of violence and arson against opponents.

He once plotted to dig up the remains of the 10th Duke of Beaufort and send his head to the Princess Royal.

Yet the jury at Birmingham crown court heard nothing about Mr Curtin's criminal past when it was ruled, after legal discussions that were not held in front of the jury, that his past record meant he should not give evidence.

Bryan Griffiths jury is out

The jury has retired to consider its verdict, reports the BBC here.

Someone calling him/herself "bobbyb" has added the following comment on an earlier post about this trial. Can't say I agree with the sentiments expressed, but it's interesting to get a view from inside the courtroom:

Was in court today to hear Judges summing up and self defense was part of her oration, the jury had five questions to consider, a sort of flow chart, 1, if no, Not guilty, if yes goto 2, and again till last one and if that no, not guilty or yes guilty, Jury out at 14:15, sent home 16:15.
As for the fear Bryan did impart to the independent witnesses was that he was shot at and was a bit worried when he saw the landrover enter the airfield all this before the incident and the prosecution accept now that Bryan was shot at, as the Police did a reconstruction with their Helicopter and proved that what Bryan said he saw was right, I don't think they did it for Bryan's benefit. As for Violence on Hunts, in my experiance it has always come from the Hunt never the other way round, if anyone can prove it, by showing prosecutions please do, whereas Hunt Supporters have been Prosecuted, also I have seen foxes run through a large flock of sheep and the sheep haven't lifted their heads, but as soon as they hear the dogs, they scatter, so what harms sheep more dogs or foxes and if it wasn't for the sports shooters supporting the hunts the hunts will die.

Griffiths had 'poor attitude'

It has emerged in court that Bryan Griffiths had been reprimanded for risky flying while monitoring another hunt just three days before Trevor Morse's death. An instructor had criticised his 'poor attitude' after another incident. Griffiths was also accused of misleading police six times during questioning. More from the Coventry Telegraph here.

Trevor Morse had 'time to move'

An extraordinary argument is being put forward by the defence in the trial of Bryan Griffiths. They appear to be saying that Trevor Morse had 'time to move' and chose to stay put.

Are they suggesting he wanted to commit suicide? I can't see the argument 'he had time to move' cutting much ice if a car driver were to run down and kill a policeman.

Previously Griffiths had complained that Morse had been 'intrusive and aggressive', even going so far as taking photographs of him. Gasp! A bit like the way antis photograph hunt followers day in day out. Sometimes from gyrocopters.

Regardless of the outcome of this trial, it's providing a real insight into the minds of these fanatics.

UPDATE 10/3:

Inevitable, I suppose, that Griffiths is now telling the court how "extremely frightened" he was when confronted by Morse. His "primary concern was to get myself and the aircraft out of there as quickly as possible.”

'Oh dear, the twat didn't stand clear of it'

Those are the words heard on video moments after Trevor Morse was killed by a gyrocopter piloted by Bryan Griffiths who is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court, charged with 'manslaughter by gross negligence'.

The words may prove crucial in determining Griffiths' guilt or innocence. They certainly ring very hollow coming from people who lecture others on callousness and cruelty.

The Mail website has a detailed - and sickeningly graphic - report of today's proceedings here: A fox hunting supporter's head was cleaved from 'top to bottom' by the blades of a gyrocopter after he tried to confront the pilot for tracking his hunt, a court heard today...

More details in the Telegraph's report here.

UPDATE 3/3:

Coverage of the case continues on the Telegraph website today; Julie Sargeant, who travelled to the airfield with Trevor Morse, broke down while giving evidence - she told the court how Morse had stood in front of the gyro as the engine started.

Bryan Griffiths trial begins

This photo of Griffiths at the controls appears on the Daily Mail website
Note how the propeller blades become an almost invisible blur when rotating at speed

The trial begins today (1 March) at Birmingham Crown Court of Bryan Griffiths, charged with killing a hunt supporter who died after being struck by the propeller blades of a gyrocopter. Griffiths denies the manslaughter of Warwickshire Hunt member Trevor Morse on 9 March last year. Previous posts here, here and here.

UPDATE 2/3:

On Monday (1 March) the jury was sworn in, and Griffiths pleaded not guilty to "manslaughter by gross negligence" - by driving towards Trevor Morse "at speed a gyrocopter with an unguarded revolving rear propeller at a time when it was unsafe to do so". More details in the Birmingham Post here. The trial resumes today.
Chloe Finch of the Countryside Alliance told Horse & Hound: "We expect both Peter Bunce of the POWA [Protect Our Wild Animals campaign] who filmed the whole incident and convicted animal rights extremist John Curtin, who was Griffiths' co-pilot, to appear as witnesses." Also expected in court are Warwickshire master Antony Spencer and the female hunt supporter who was with Trevor when he was killed. Police are not planning to release the video filmed by Bunce.

NOTE:

For more recent updates on this case, use the Bryan Griffiths tag.

Gyrocopter hunt death update

This case does seem to be taking an extraordinarily long time. From the Birmingham Post:

Warwickshire man pleads not guilty in gyrocopter hunt death

Oct 5 2009

A 54-year-old north Warwickshire man pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a hunt supporter who was killed by the rotor blades of a gyrocopter.

Bryan Griffiths, who spoke only to enter his plea at Birmingham Crown Court, will now stand trial next year accused of killing Trevor Morse.

The defendant, of Wiltshire Close, Bedworth, is alleged to have killed Mr Morse unlawfully at Long Marston airfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon, on March 9.

Mr Morse, a committee member with the Warwickshire Hunt, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident after suffering severe head injuries.

Griffiths is expected to return to court for trial on March 1 next year at a venue to be fixed.

Gyro death update

I see from the server logs that a certain Kit Davidson has been trawling this blog and others searching the name 'POWA' (the anti organisation 'Protect Our Wild Animals') - which reminded me that we hadn't heard anything recently about the murder charges against gyrocopter hunt monitor Bryan Griffiths.

The following report appeared in the Stratford Observer, but has since been taken down. There's not necessarily anything suspicious in that, but it seems slightly odd that there has been so little reporting of the developments in the case...

Gyrocopter pilot murder charge could be dismissed

Court Reporter
11 June 2009

A MURDER charge facing a pilot accused of killing a hunt supporter with the tail propeller of his gyrocopter could be thrown out.
Lawyers for Bryan Griffiths, accused of killing hunt supporter Trevor Morse at Long Marston airfield in March, are to apply for the murder charge against him to be dismissed.
The charge follows an incident when 48-year-old Mr Morse, a hunt supporter from Alderminster, was struck by the rear propeller of the gyrocopter 54-year-old Griffiths, of Wiltshire Close, Bedworth, was piloting.
It had landed to refuel at the airfield after being used to monitor a hunt in the area.
Mr Morse, a self-employed gardener and a volunteer marshal for the Warwickshire Hunt, died ‘virtually immediately’ from severe head injuries after being struck by the tail propeller.
Griffiths’ case was listed at Warwick Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing – but at the request of his barrister the murder charge was not put to him.
Peter Lownds, defending, explained that there was to be 'an application to dismiss' the murder charge so the case was adjourned and Griffiths was granted conditional bail.
Mr Lownds asked Judge Richard Griffith-Jones to set a timetable for both the defence and prosecution to serve ‘skeleton arguments’ prior to a hearing at which the application to dismiss the charge will be made.
The Judge pointed out the murder case must be heard by a High Court judge, and it had been released to him only for the plea and case management hearing.
He ordered the defence should serve its argument by June 26, with the prosecution response to it by July 24, with a hearing on the application to dismiss the charges some time in October.
Judge Griffith-Jones said: "The issue will be whether there is a prima facie case of murder. The issue of manslaughter will be another matter altogether."
Mr Lownds confirmed there would still be a trial even if the defence application to dismiss the murder charge is successful.
The Judge said the court staff would be asked to find a slot for the trial to take place, possibly at Birmingham Crown Court in January next year.

Gyrocopter hunt death

The gyrocopter, pictured on 12 Feb overflying a hunt
- pic from forum at www.hunting-directory.co.uk

A hunt supporter has been killed by a gyrocopter thought to be following hunts in the Warwickshire area. Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder. BBC News story here »

More info here » It seems that complaints have been made recently about a gyro swooping aggressively over the Warwickshire and Heythrop hunts. "It is understood that an animal rights' group, Protect Our Wild Animals (Powa), has been monitoring the Warwickshire and the Heythrop hunts from a gyrocopter over the past three weeks."

Comment from the airfield manager suggests the aircraft was taxiing at the time it struck Trevor Morse, 48. There's obviously more to this story than meets the eye. Could Mr Morse have gone to remonstrate with the pilot?

Regd owner here

Selection of photos of the aircraft here

Note the video camera mount beside the passenger seat on this image here

Discussion on a pilots' forum here

...and on a gyro forum here

...another flyers' forum here

...and here's a thing - a pic of the self-same gyro, taken by a hunt supporter and posted on 12 Feb, with the comment "Has anyone come across this character at all. He was flying above us today while we were on hound exercise". EXIF data shows it was taken with a 400mm lens on a Canon 40D, so it wasn't as close as it looks, but even so...

Update: The League Against Cruel Sports has issued a statement distancing itself here »

Gyrocopter tactics show 'desperation' of antis - Times Online.

Update 11 March: One man charged with murder - BBC report here »

Update 12 March: POWA have now posted a statement on their website: "The incident which took place at Long Marston on Monday 9th March was a tragedy. We send our condolences to the family of the deceased."

Warwicks Police news releases here »

Bryan Griffiths, 54, has appeared in court charged with murder. Story in the Sun here. The court was told that an eyewitness filmed the incident with a video camera.

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Interesting speculation here on the pprune forum:

I'm told that the video is horribly clear. The aircraft set off, from a standstill, towards him, and mowed him down head-on. The aircraft passenger is a well-known animal rights activist with a long and repulsive list of convictions. The video was shot by a third anti, who was doing a ground support/handling role.

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This post is clearly bothering the antis, who would rather brush the whole thing under the carpet. I've had the following 'comment' from 'Phasianus' which may or may not be is a feeble disguise for the anti-shooting extremist, woodworker and general busybody Kit Davidson of Animal Aid:

This appalling incident was an undeniable tragedy for everyone involved, most of all for the victim's family. But what has all this got to do with the editor of a shooting magazine? Why are you further reporting on an occurrence that is already well covered in the mainstream news media? Why are you doing your own little web trawl to gather and publish as much information on this non-shooting issue as you can? You must be the only editor in the Argent [sic] stable of titles who under the apparent auspices of his magazine, is working outside of his brief, following his own agenda and neatly filing his missives under 'antis' and 'foxhunting'. There is a clue there, isn't there James? But I may not be the only one to notice that despite the almost simultaneous prominent jailing of huntsman Christopher Marles, who used his mount to dangerously assault an 'anti', you have failed to report or file this criminal conviction in which the Recorder labelled Marles a "drunken lout". I don't care if you block the publication of my comment or not. Prejudice exists doesn't it James?

Cunningly poisonous stuff - in a few short sentences he has attempted to belittle my efforts, drive a wedge between different branches of fieldsports, threaten me with the disapproval of my employers, and suggest that the jailing of someone for ABH somehow has some relevance to the welfare of foxes. But then twisting the truth and peddling bigotry is his stock in trade.