Farmer spared jail after cows trampled father of two to death

A farmer whose cows trampled a man to death in 2013 has been spared jail despite being repeatedly warned to control his herds.

A number of people have been seriously injured using public footpaths on Brian Godwin’s 400 acre farm since 2004.

He was ordered to offer more protection to walkers, including posting signs and putting up electric fencing, but in May 2013, university professor Mike Porter, 66, was trampled to death as he walked his dog.

MORE: This man was allowed to have his pet parrot with him in his police mugshot

MORE: Occupants escape from their car seconds before it’s hit by a train on a level crossing

He was walking down a footpath through Elbow Field with his brother John and their two dogs when a herd of around 30 cows set upon them, repeatedly trampling Mike as he curled up in a ball to protect himself.

He was airlifted to a hospital near to Timothy Rise Farm in Turleigh, Wiltshire, but died of internal bleeding shortly after; his brother, John, also sustained serious injuries.

Godwin admitted breaching his general duty of controlling his livestock at a previous hearing and was this week sentenced at Swindon Crown Court.

Sentencing, Tim Mousley QC claimed if the farmer had taken “proper heed from the previous incidents” the death could have been avoided.

He said: “You could have prevented his untimely death.

“I’m satisfied that you quite blatantly failed to ensure the safety of people who came on your land.

“I’m quite satisfied that the way you managed your livestock created an obvious risk to people on public footpaths and a risk of serious injury.

“That was a risk that you failed to take reasonable steps to rectify and led to the terrible death of one man and serious injuries to another.

“There was an incident in 2004, two incidents in 2008 after which the health and safety executive required you to make some changes. Two further incidents in 2011 after which the health and safety executive required you to make further changes.

“It must have been clear at that stage, the warning signs were obvious. By May 2013 you were aware of all the previous incidents.

”You had made some improvements to farming practice.  But what you did obviously was not enough. I’m satisfied you could have done more and you say you now realise that you could.”

Godwin’s cows are all beef cattle, raised in such a way that the herd wean their own calves with very little involvement from humans.

Previous incidents at the farm include Alison Cane who was butted and stamped on by a charging cow and suffered serious injuries and David Billington who, in 2011, suffered two broken vertebrae after a cow butted him from behind.

But defending, Dominic Kay told the court that Godwin had put into place a six-step strategy to deal with the issues that had been raised.

Those steps included moving the feeding tub, separating cows from very young calves in Elbow Field and carrying out daily checks on the cattle.

He said: “This is not a case of willful blindness, it’s a case of Mr Godwin working out what he thinks is the correct thing to do and simply not going far enough.”

Adrienne Sillar, who was Mike’s partner for 35 years and the mother of their two children, said, “Mike’s death was avoidable, and while nothing will bring Mike back to us, we can at least take some comfort that lessons have been learned which will prevent others in the future being needlessly killed or injured.

“We hope that those agencies with responsibility will now review the guidance relating to the management of livestock in the vicinity of public rights of way.”