A farmer, who has suffered more than £50,000 worth of vandalism, has walked away free from court after being cleared of assault.
Alan Hogarth, a 44-year-old dairy farmer from Ayrshire, Scotland, detained a boy he caught on his land. Hogarth performed a citizen's arrest on him before calling police.
The farmer has suffered more than £50,000 vandalism to his property in recent years, but he was nevertheless charged with assault after the nine-year-old claimed he had attacked him.
Mr Hogarth was riding a quad bike to check on his dairy herd at Sorbie Farm near Ardrossan, Ayrshire, when he spotted a group of boys on his land. He asked for their names but one ran off, prompting Mr Hogarth to vault a gate and catch hold of him.
Mr Hogarth told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court the boy said he had the "right to roam" on farmland.
"I said if he wasn't going to give me his name, I was going to take him to the police station," he added.
"But he decided he would leg it so I grabbed him in a one-handed hold because I wanted to get his name. He was one of the ones I'd told to get off the farm previously. All I wanted was a name and he'd be free to go."
'Farmer trying to protect his land'
The farmer continued: "I was going in that direction to get to the cows and I stopped three of them," he said.
"I'd seen one of them the day before on top of farm machinery. It was more a danger to himself but he was climbing on machinery with a whole bunch of kids. I wanted all three of their names – that's what the police told me to do."
Mr Hogarth said: "I grabbed him by his clothing and his feet were never off the ground as far as I'm aware.
"I didn't shout and swear. My nine-year-old daughter was there and I'm not in the habit of swearing in front of children."
Defence solicitor Nigel Scullion said: "What we have here is a farmer trying to protect his land and the safety of people on it," he said.
Sheriff Shirley Foran found Mr Hogarth not guilty of assault and threatening or abusive behaviour in September 2016.
