The widow of a farmer who was killed when he was kicked by a bullock will get no compensation after a judge ruled that the animal could not be blamed.
William Richards, 72, was tending to a group of bullocks in the yard at his farm at St Allen, near Truro, when he kicked by the hind legs of one of them, London's Appeal Court heard.
His widow, Gillian Richards, campaigned through the courts for at least £325,000 compensation from the farm's insurers. But the judge ruled that her husband was "wholly to blame" for the accident.
Judge Carr said there was 'no doubt' that Mr Richards got 'dangerously close to the bullock's back legs, and did so in a confined space'. An 'experienced stockman who knew the risks posed', he would have been kicked 'many times' during his farming career.
'Wholly to blame'
"The only possible conclusion is that Mr Richards was wholly to blame for the accident."
Challenging that ruling at the Court of Appeal, his widow's barrister, John Snell, said: "The judge fell into error in determining that, if no-one else was at fault, then the deceased must have been wholly at fault. The judge did not find as a fact that the deceased had provoked the bullock into kicking. The accident was partly due to the deceased’s fault and partly due to whatever it was that caused the animal to kick out."
But Lord Justice Moore-Bick said that 'animals of this kind behave unpredictably' particularly in confined spaces.
"I do not think it is arguable that the action of the animal itself can be regarded as a relevant cause of the accident or as diminishing the degree of fault on Mr Richard's part. I do not think this ground of appeal could have any real prospect of success. I refuse permission to appeal," he said.
