Landowner who threw a dead partridge at his gamekeeper ‘after he threatened to belt him’ during fallout over running of £15K game shoot is cleared of assault
- William Elder and gamekeeper Daniel Burden tussled at event on the Dorset farm
- Mr Elder denied assault but admitted to throwing the dead bird out of frustration
A landowner who threw a dead partridge at his gamekeeper who had threatened to ‘belt him’ in a falling out over the running of a £15,000 game shoot has been cleared of assault.
William Elder berated gamekeeper Daniel Burden and beaters at the event held on his Dorset farm over the radio, causing some of them to walk off in protest, a court heard.
As his clients had paid almost £2,000 each for the day’s shooting, Mr Elder was concerned some of them hadn’t bagged enough birds and would ask for their money back.
Later, the 60-year-old farmer and Mr Burden came together at the farm with both men accusing each other of acting aggressively.
Mr Elder claimed his gamekeeper threatened to ‘belt’ him and shoot captain Steve Smith had to intervene.
William Elder (pictured outside Weymouth Magistrates Court) threw a dead partridge at his gamekeeper in a falling out over the running of a £15,000 game shoot
A court heard that Mr Elder then threw a partridge at Mr Burden, hitting him on the leg. In retaliation, the gamekeeper picked up the dead bird and threw it back at his boss.
Mr Burden, who is in his 40s, claimed the farmer ‘chest bumped’ him and then kicked him several times in the legs.
One beater also accused Mr Elder of assaulting him in the disagreement over the way the pheasants were being flushed out of woods and claimed Mr Elder kicked him in the backside and told him to ‘get off my land’.
Mr Elder denied both allegations of assault but admitted to throwing the partridge out of sheer frustration.
He was found not guilty of both charges following a trial at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court.
The hearing heard that the incident happened towards the end of a day of shooting on Stancombe Farm in the village of Askerswell, Dorset, on November 11, 2021.
Mr Elder has run shoots on his 700 acre farm for 35 years and the event was one of the first to be held after the relaxation of Covid rules.
The shoot involved eight guns standing at set pegs at the bottom of a hill and the team of beaters driving out pheasants and partridge at the top.
There had been three drives in the morning and breaks for elevenses and lunch without any issues.
But during the afternoon drive, Mr Elder became angry when he felt one end of the line was pushing the birds the wrong way.
He later explained he was aware that three of his clients positioned on one side of the estate had only bagged between 10-15 birds.
Mr Elder, who has owned the farm for 40 years, said: ‘My prepared statement was written within hours of the incident because I was going to bring a complaint against [the two complainants].
‘Also the gunners could have come back with a financial claim on me so I also wrote it to show the gunners I was not at fault.
‘I am responsible for the whole game, anything I say to the beaters they have to do. I can’t have people running around doing what they want.
‘They have to follow my orders from a safety point of view because you have got people with guns. I’m not rude, I just give sharp orders.
‘One side of the line kept moving the birds the wrong way. I had three guns who weren’t having any shooting.
A court heard that Mr Elder threw a partridge at David Burden, hitting him on the leg. In retaliation, the gamekeeper picked up the dead bird and threw it back at his boss. Pictured: Mr Elder’s Stancombe Farm near Askerswell
‘The five guns on the other end had lots, about 70 to 80 shots each, the three guns on the right side probably only had 10 to 15 shots each.
‘He kept on moving when I expressly asked him not to. In the end I did say a sharp order ‘for god’s sake, please stop’.
‘I was trying to get the birds over the other guns.’
Mr Burden said: ‘Everything was going well as far as I was concerned.
‘Mr Elder was complaining the other end of the line was moving and coming in too quickly.
‘From where I was I could see the other end of the beating line. Mr Elder wasn’t correct.
‘As we got towards the end I realised some of the beaters had left due to the way he was talking to him so on the radio I told Mr Elder we couldn’t do another drive after this one because some of them had left and we didn’t have enough beaters to do it.’
Magistrates heard that the beater first encountered Mr Elder on his way back to the farm.
Mr Elder claimed he was ‘extremely aggressive’ and had a beater’s flag raised above his head so he kicked out in self-defence.
He said: ‘He started shouting at me that I don’t know anything about running a shoot and “we’re gonna do you”. He pushed past me, hitting me with his shoulder, and I pushed him away with my boot on his backside.’
Back at the farm Mr Elder said he told his clients not to tip the keeper because he had ‘lost the plot’.
Describing what happened with Mr Burden, he said: ‘Dan said “I’m going to f****** well belt you” and Steve had to step in front of him.
‘I said “go on, hit me, don’t just threaten me” and in a fit of frustration I threw a partridge. It was supposed to hit the ground but it actually hit Dan at his feet.
‘He started shouting all sorts of stupid names like ‘pussy’ and then threw the partridge back at me.
‘Dan said “I’m going to bloody well hit you” again but Steve said “no stop” and I told him to go and never come back.’
Chairman of the bench Robert Ford said they had two contradictory statements regarding the alleged assault of Mr Burden and so they could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that it happened.
With the alleged assault on the teenager, Mr Ford said they accepted Mr Elder was a man of good character and that he believed he perceived a threat and the push was proportionate.
They found him not guilty of both charges.
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