Deputy council leader fined in electric fence row

The deputy leader of Ashfield District Council has been fined after "recklessly" removing another person's electric fence.

Tom Hollis went with his father Michael and two others to land off Silverhill Lane in Teversal, Nottinghamshire, on 15 October last year.

Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard the 32-year-old, of Yew Tree Drive in Huthwaite, had damaged the fencing when removing it before fleeing the scene through a hedge.

He was found guilty of causing criminal damage, fined £460 and ordered to pay £500 in compensation, a £184 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £650.

The court heard on Monday the field in question contained sheep and was leased from the previous owner by Helen and Ian Taylor, with Thomas Deakin putting up specialist electric fencing to keep the animals in the field.

It was bought in April 2022 at an auction by Michael Hollis, who told the court he was planning to let his daughter-in-law keep horses there and was carrying out an eviction notice on 15 October 2024, telling magistrates there was no evidence of a lease agreement.

Mr Deakin said he was called to the field in the morning after a neighbour spotted men in the field, which the court heard were Michael and Tom Hollis, a security guard they had hired and another man.

When he arrived, Mr Deakin said they called police before he and Mr Taylor approached the men.

"Words were exchanged, [and] it got a bit heated," he said.

Mr Deakin said Tom Hollis left the scene before police arrived, after which his main concern returned to securing the sheep.

"It's a farmer's nightmare, stock on the road - it could have killed somebody," he said.

Mr Deakin said he bought replacement fencing, and produced an invoice for the court.

Mr Taylor said he was "shocked and distressed" by the scene when he arrived, where he saw Hollis "ripping fencing sticks out of the ground".

He said he saw the defendant leave the scene through a hedge before police arrived, adding: "That's not normal behaviour."

In his defence, Hollis claimed the land and the fencing were both owned by his father, and said a leasehold agreement "didn't exist".

"It's my dad's fencing, I was there when he bought it," he said.

Mr Hollis also showed the court a receipt for fencing bought in July 2022, months after he purchased the land, and claimed he had put the fencing in place weeks later.

Finding the defendant guilty of causing criminal damage, the magistrates said Mr Deakin and Mr Taylor were both seen as "credible" witnesses.

"It would seem quite strange that [Mr Deakin] would order replacement fencing if the original had not been owned by him," they said.

"[Hollis] recklessly took down the fencing in causing the criminal damage."

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