From The BBC ;
BBC News - Man denies killing hunt supporter with gyrocopter
Man denies killing hunt supporter
A man has denied killing a hunt supporter by flying a gyrocopter towards him at speed.
Bryan Griffiths, 54, of Bedworth, Warwickshire, pleaded not guilty to a new charge of the manslaughter of Trevor Morse by gross negligence.
Mr Morse, a committee member with the Warwickshire Hunt, died at Long Marston Airfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, on 9 March.
A jury has been sworn in for the trial which has been adjourned until Tuesday. Mr Griffiths, of Wiltshire Close, had previously been charged with manslaughter.
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From The Daily Record ;
Hunt supporter's head was chopped in two by gyrocopter rotor, court hears - The Daily Record
Hunt supporter's head was chopped in two by gyrocopter rotor, court hears
Mar 3 2010 By Rod Chaytor
A HUNT supporter had his head cut in half when he tried to stop a gyrocopter flown by an anti-hunting pilot from taking off, a court heard yesterday.
Trevor Morse died instantly when the rear propeller "cleaved his head from top to bottom".
Anti-hunting protester Bryan Griffiths, a qualified pilot, had been watching the Warwickshire Hunt near Long Marston airfield on March 9 last year.
Hunt supporters claimed that his swooping gyrocopter was upsetting livestock.
Hunt-follower Morse, 48, tried to prevent Griffiths taking off when the pilot allegedly taxied towards him at speed.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court gasped as they were shown video footage of the incident.
They heard commentary on the film - being shot by another member of the anti-hunting group - which said: "Oh dear, the t**t did not stand clear of it."
Gareth Evans QC said: "He deliberately flew the gyrocopter at Trevor Morse.
"Doing so is reckless in the extreme because the manoeuvre carried with it a very real risk that Mr Morse was going to come into contact with the revolving rear blade."
Griffiths, a plumber, later said in a police interview that he feared he could have been set upon by hunt supporters.
Griffiths, 55, from Bedworth, Warwickshire, denies manslaughter by gross negligence.
The trial continues.
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From Horse and Hound;
Pilot of hunting death gyrocopter in court for manslaughter - Equestrian news, equine news, horse news - Horse & Hound
Pilot of hunting death gyrocopter in court for manslaughter
Abigail Butcher, H&H head of news
1 March, 2010
Bryan Griffiths, the man accused of the
manslaughter of hunt supporter Trevor Morse, appears court today.
Griffiths, of Bedworth, Warwickshire, will appear in
Birmingham Crown Court in a case that is scheduled to last between two and three weeks but may be over much sooner.
Griffiths was initially accused of murdering Warwickshire hunt supporter Trevor Morse, but the charges were reduced to manslaughter at a hearing last October, at which Griffiths
pleaded not guilty.
Mr Morse was hit by the propeller of Griffiths's gyrocopter at Long Marston Airfield in Warwickshire on 9 March 2009. He suffered severe head injuries and died at the scene.
Countryside Alliance spokesman Chloe Finch said witnesses for the prosecution will include Warwickshire master Antony Spencer and the female hunt supporter who was with Trevor when he was killed.
"We also expect both Peter Bunce of the POWA [Protect Our Wild Animals campaign] who filmed the whole incident and convicted animal rights extremist John Curtin, who was Griffiths' co-pilot, to appear as witnesses," she said.
A police spokesman told H&H: "We do not plan to release the video [of the incident] at this stage."
For regular updates on the case, visit
www.horseandhound.co.uk.