Farmer, 83, ‘SHOT a raider he feared was taking diesel in pitch dark’, court hears
A FARMER shot a man lurking outside his farmhouse at 2am because he thought he was stealing diesel from a tank, a court heard.
Farmer Kenneth Hugill (TR), 83 shot at Richard Stables (L), a court heard
Kenneth Hugill, 83, fired a doublebarrel shotgun at Richard Stables in pitch darkness outside his isolated farmhouse at Wilberfoss, near York.
Mr Stables told a court he had been hunting for rabbits by lamplight with a lurcher dog and he and fellow serial thief Adrian Barron had stumbled on the farm but were not stealing diesel. Hugill, of Mill House Farm, denies inflicting grievous bodily harm at Hull Crown Court.
He told police he was acting in self-defence and had not intended to cause harm.
The shooting occurred at Mill Farm in Wilberfoss, Yorks
Mr Stables had said he was putting the lurcher back in their Land Rover when he was shot without warning.
He accepts he fired a shotgun. The issue for you is whether it was reasonable to act in the way he did
However, the court heard that he gave three accounts of how he suffered the injuries, including claiming they were self-imposed, at York District Hospital.
Christopher Dunn, prosecuting, told the jury on Wednesday: “He accepts he fired a shotgun. “The issue for you is whether it was reasonable to act in the way he did.”
Mr Barron, 40, told the court they saw a shadow walking towards them on the night in November 2015.
Farmer Kenneth Hugill told police he was acting in self-defence and had not intended to cause harm
He said: “You could tell it was human, but you could not see a face. I heard two gun shots within a second of each other. I saw a flash.
“Richard jumped in the car, screaming ‘he’s blown my foot off’.
"I drove off as quick as I could.”
Mr Stables had earlier told the jury: “No words were spoken. Whoever was stood there fired a gun that hit my foot. I felt excruciating pain.
“The shot went all the way through taking the bones with it. I thought my foot had gone. I can’t remember much after.”
Richard Stables in a wheelchair outside Hull Crown Court
The court heard that the shotgun used had been given to Hugill by his parents as a 21st birthday present.
The jury was told that Mr Stables has convictions for burglary, theft and possession of an offensive weapon.
It also heard that Mr Barron has convictions for burglary, handling stolen goods, drugs offences, violent disorder, assault and criminal damage.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Roderick Hunt, Mr Barron denied he had gone to the farm to steal diesel and denied being part of a criminal gang in Cumbria in 2016.
The trial continues.