Achi news desk-
Magistrates were shown mobile phone footage of an incident in the village of Church Fenton, in which local resident Andrew Mason, 63, can be seen facing a cherry picker felling trees as Chris Makin, 65, tries to drag him by his clothes. and hair
Prosecutors at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court described on Thursday how, before filming began, Makin poked Mr Mason in the face, knocking off his glasses, then “threw him to the floor in a sort of headlock”.
Michael Smith, prosecuting, said: “The defendant grabbed Mr Mason’s hair in his hands and tried to pull him by his hair to cross the road.”
In the video, Mr. Mason is seen lying on the floor and can be heard yelling “get off me” and “the police are on the way, you lunatic” as well as calling Makin an “ignorant thug” as the accused swears at him. .
Mr Smith told the court that at one point, Makin appeared to be instructing his workers to move the cherry picker forward as Mr Mason was lying in front of him and the accused could be heard on the video saying “a little forward”.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Mason said that at that point, he thought “my life was in danger”.
Also in his statement, the head of the community council of Church Fenton expressed dismay that he “could be brutally attacked in broad daylight in the village I love and where I raised my children”.
The court heard that Mr Mason had suffered a number of stress-related problems since the attack and suffered sleepless nights.
He said in his statement that he was also shocked by the foul language McCain used in front of several viewers.
The prosecutor told magistrates how the incident happened on April 4, 2023 when a group of local residents gathered to try to stop contractors working for Makin, which owns nearby Leeds East Airport, “crowning” trees.
Mr Smith said they were concerned about the birds and that he did not have permission to remove nests or close the road.
The police were called earlier and advised Makin to stop work, but the officers left before the assault happened.
Mr Smith told the three judges that the defendant used “unreasonable and unnecessary” force after Mr Mason “positioned himself under the cherry picker” to prevent him from cutting down more of the trees.
The prosecutor said that the accused showed no remorse.
Makin, of Micklefield, North Yorkshire, was found guilty of assault by beating at a previous trial.
On Thursday, chairman of the bench Phil Morris said it was an assault of a “sustained and protracted nature” and fined him £4,800.
He said it was 250 percent of his weekly income.
McKean was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £1,920, £775 costs and £684 compensation to Mr Mason.
Richard Wright KC, defending, said his client had “learned a happy lesson” and told the court he had made a “massive contribution to Britain’s GDP”.
Mr Wright said Mackin was “used to getting things done and doing work for the public good.
“He wanted to do this job but did it the wrong way.”
