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07th Feb 2022

Farmer who used forklift to move car parked on land cleared of charges

Charlie Herbert

The incident happened in June last year

A farmer who used his forklift truck to move a car that was parked on his land has been cleared by a jury.

In June 2021, Robert Hooper found a Vauxhall Corsa was blocking access to his land at his farm in Newbiggin-in-Teesdale, County Durham.

The 57-year-old politely asked the driver and passenger in the car to leave because they were blocking his way. The passenger, 21-year-old Charlie Burns, reportedly punched Hooper in response.

 

Hooper then lifted the vehicle up, flipped it over, and moved it to the road outside.

The former had told the driver of the car, Elliott Johnson: “If you don’t move it I will.”

A number of local Teesdale farmers welcomed the court verdict and were there to support Hooper on Friday, the Guardian reported.

William Wearmouth, told reporters: “He is absolutely first class. He is a hard-working man. He will help anyone with anything. It’s great to see that the jury has realised this.”

John Dickinson said: “It’s a really good result for the local area. Robert is a very decent, upstanding man who shouldn’t have to have gone through all this.”

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