Some of you may have met me on a CGUK day, or recognise me from social media as ‘farmer EJD’ – a cheerful, tractor-driving, and cab-dancing farm gal. I am all of those things, but in addition, I am also a focused and driven criminal and regulatory barrister. I was lucky enough to be born and raised in a farming family and some say with both a blessing and a curse to have been born with a brain that works incredibly quickly as well. I have worked on our family farm since I could reach the pedals and continued to work seasonally throughout school and University. After graduating I worked full time on our arable farm for 3 years before I started at the Bar. As a barrister, I am self-employed so I still take August off to help with harvest, as well as working weekends and any other time that the farm needs me – no, I sit still for very long.
As a criminal barrister, I prosecute and defend a range of criminal cases, from driving matters through to serious organised crime and everything in between. As a regulatory barrister, I prosecute and defend cases brought by local authorities, government bodies and the police. Given my background in Ag, I am described as a barrister with quite a niche set of skills and knowledge. I want to therefore use this article as an opportunity to explore and a plea, for everybody to be health and safety conscious whilst in the countryside.
Before harvest, I spent 5 weeks in Chester as part of the prosecution team in a health and safety, on-farm case. In R v T & others, I was the led junior, by a Silk (a KC), in a successful prosecution of two Defendants for breaches under sections 3, 31, and 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The offences occurred in February 2021 when a roofer attended at the Defendant’s farm to replace a roof sheet in an old potato store. The roofer was lifted up inside a potato crate, balanced on the forks of a counterbalance forklift. At approximately 4 meters above the ground, the box toppled and the roofer sustained a fatal head injury. This was an avoidable accident. The Defendant farmer was charged with gross negligent manslaughter and health and safety offences and his company was charged with health and safety offences. The farmer himself was acquitted by a jury of manslaughter but convicted of the health and safety offences. There were several failings in this incident, namely, not using the appropriate equipment for the job, not using any safety features such as a ratchet strap that could have helped and not conducting a full health and safety risk assessment. As a farmer, I know that this is the sort of thing that happens day in and day out on a farm – but it shouldn’t. This was a relatively simple task that had life-changing repercussions. During the trial, I advised the police to remove the farmer’s guns from him as there were concerns that in the event of a conviction, something grave may have occurred.
As a regulatory barrister, I often prosecute and defend cases for and against the police and local authorities. I have and do deal with cases involving firearms. R v E was a firearms appeal that I conducted for a police force. The appellant (person appealing) had been arrested in connection with a suspected explosives incident which triggered the police being able to seize his lawfully held guns and revoke his firearms certificate. During the investigation into the explosives offenses, the police found a dismantled shotgun outside of the locked shotgun cabinet. The appellant was unable to account for why the shotgun was not in the cabinet and it was therefore seized, along with the rest of his guns. As the appellant had not yet been convicted of any offence, he made an application to retrieve his guns from the police under section 44 of the Firearms Act 1968. The bar that each party had to consider was whether:
“(1) A shotgun certificate may be revoked by the chief officer of police for the area in which the holder resides if he is satisfied that the holder is prohibited by this Act from possessing a shotgun or cannot be permitted to possess a shotgun without danger to the public safety or to the peace.”
Despite not having been convicted of any offence yet, the police and I considered the appellant’s possession of a prohibited explosive article without an appropriate license and him having an insecure shotgun in line with the test for being a danger to the public safety or to the peace. In conclusion, we submitted that his actions amounted to a disregard for the conditions of his shotgun license and found that there were concerns for public safety as a result. The conclusion to be drawn from this case is how important it is to ensure that you follow the rules of your licences. The police and prosecution teams in the UK take guns very seriously and we will not hesitate to detain guns and prosecute people for being lapse with them.
Similarly, in the case of R v M – this firearms appeal arose out of the appellant being refused a firearms license in the first place. The applicant had applied for a firearms license to be used in connection with a new pest control business. His application was refused on the following grounds:
- Him being considered a high-risk.
- There being intelligence / previous callouts of a domestic nature to his address, in which he was both the alleged perpetrator and the alleged victim – no convictions.
- Him applying for 4 FAC rifles, 2 break barrel air rifles, and 2 PCP air rifles for use in a garden-level pest control business.
- When visited by the police, his cabinet was not attached to the wall.
- Lies were told in the medical section of the application.
The prosecution team concluded that a good reason had not been demonstrated for possession of the rifles. The conclusion to be drawn from this case was not to be untruthful when filling out forms and to have good reasons for possessing guns.
I could go on and on about the cases that I do and the horror stories that I have seen. If you can take anything away from this article, I hope it is that when it comes to guns, you remain safe and vigilant. Possessing a gun in this country is a privilege and not a right. We should not take for granted the fact that we have licenses and we should not allow ourselves to become lazy when it comes to having them in our homes. Similarly, when it comes to being out and about in the countryside or on the farm, do not allow yourself or anybody else to cut corners. It might never happen to you, but unless you have a crystal ball, you can’t be sure of that. If you fail or allow others to fail in their duty to be safe with guns or on the farm, you not only risk being punished in the wallet, but also at risk of being sent to a currently very overcrowded prison. In Court, I have sadly witnessed lives being destroyed by guns and avoidable ‘accidents’. Farming is a way of life, but it isn’t worth dying over. Be safe – you are better to be 5 minutes late than never at all.
