Interesting that the poster from the hunting website quoted above doesn't believe that Long Marston is an airfield. It obviously is, and even has a flying school based there.
This does highlight a certain level of ignorance amongst the general public about aviation, and the provisions contained within aviation related legislation that restrict public access to aircraft operating areas. If the deceased and his friends didn't think that this was an airfield, then they may well have also believed that the provisions of the various bits of law that apply to aircraft operating areas may not apply to them. They may also have been sadly unaware of the hazards associated with such areas - walking on to an active taxyway was still a damned dangerous thing to do even if no one intended to cause harm to another.
I've no doubt that the video evidence is crucial, but one has to ask why the deceased deliberately sought a face to face confrontation with the gyro pilot, and why someone felt that this confrontation should be videoed. If they were expecting some sort of violent reaction (which I assume is why they arranged for the confrontation to be videoed) then why choose to have it out in such a dangerous location?
After all, these people knew the identity of the aircraft, as they had reported it to the police and CAA several days before. They had a very good photo, clearly showing the registration (posted on a hunting website), so obviously knew the name and address of the registered owner (the pilot) as this is freely available via G-INFO to everyone. Why didn't this chap confront the pilot in a safer location, like his home?
I feel very sorry for the family and friends of the dead man, as his death seems to have been avoidable and needless. However, I cannot help but feel that he acted very, very unwisely.
VP