2 September 2011
Man drove landrover at an Army Squirrel flying at a height of 5ft - out of Middle Wallop.
5 month Jail - suspended, 120 hrs community service and £1,000 prosecution costs
BBC News - Gamekeeper gets suspended term for driving at helicopter
A gamekeeper from Wiltshire has been given a suspended five-month jail term after he drove his LandRover at a low-flying Army helicopter.
Malcolm Hughes, 61, of Pewsey, was told he could have killed the two crew members in the incident in 2009.
The pilot, who was flying at 5ft (1.5m) at one point, avoided a collision when he spotted Hughes' vehicle.
Hughes, who said he was trying to see the aircraft's registration, was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court.
He was also told to carry out 120 hours' unpaid work and pay £1,000 prosecution costs.
Hughes was found guilty of endangering an aircraft, at an earlier hearing.
'Quite intentional'
The jury heard that Lt Andrew Higgins had been flying an Army Air Corps Squirrel helicopter at about 20ft (6m) after taking off from Middle Wallop in Hampshire with trainee pilot Bombardier Henry Luck.
The pilot carried out safety checks before beginning to drop to 5ft (1.5m) when he spotted Hughes.
Prosecutor Justin Gau said Hughes, of Raffin Lane, drove his LandRover beneath the helicopter and gestured "angrily" that it should leave.
The pilot had to take evasive action to avoid Hughes' vehicle, the court heard.
"It was clear and quite intentional the LandRover had been driven at the helicopter."
Following his arrest, he told police that he had not driven under the helicopter and the closest he had been 300m (985ft) away.
Passing sentence, Judge Douglas Field, said he was satisfied that Hughes was not trying to hit the helicopter deliberately.
"Tremendous damage would have been caused, putting the lives of the occupants of the helicopter and yourself at risk," he said.
Hughes' sentence was suspended for 12 months.
Gamekeeper who drove car at low-flying helicopter spared jail | UK news | guardian.co.uk
A gamekeeper who drove his LandRover at an army helicopter as it hovered close to the ground has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Malcolm Hughes, 61, put the lives of two pilots at risk when he drove towards the Army Air Corps Squirrel helicopter. Disaster was only averted when pilot Lieutenant Andrew Higgins pulled up at the last minute after being alerted by his co-pilot.
Hughes later told police he had been trying to protect the pheasants he reared on farmland in Wiltshire. In court he claimed he had not been trying to damage the helicopter but only to get close enough to take its serial number so he could report its crew for low flying.
Hughes, of Pewsey, Wiltshire, was found guilty of acting in a manner likely to endanger aircraft. He received a five-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months when he appeared at Swindon crown court. He was ordered to serve 120 hours community service and pay £1,000 costs.
Higgins was teaching trainee pilot Bombardier Henry Luck low-flying manoeuvres over farmland in December 2009.
Higgins said he was just about to descend to 1.5m (5ft) above the field – which was free of crops and animals – when Luck raised the alarm.
Hughes was "vigorously moving his arm out of the window" gesticulating at the pilots "to get off his land", Higgins said. Had he not taken evasive action, the helicopter would have struck the LandRover, the pilot added.
Stuart Patterson, defending, said: "This was a one-off incident that is unlikely to be repeated."
Judge Douglas Field said: "What you did put the lives of those in the helicopter and you at risk. They must have been surprised to see your vehicle there. The Army Air Corps have every right to be in that area but I am satisfied you drove at the vehicle not with the intention to damage it but to take its licence number."