Shotgun licence victory for 'short-tempered' farmer

An investment banker-turned-farmer has regained his shotgun licence after police stepped in to remove it following a string of altercations with the public.

Michael Wentworth Waites, 62, quickly came into conflict with members of the local community after buying the 600-acre Thornthwaite Hall Farm, near Bampton, Cumbria.

He purchased the Grade II listed building in the Eastern Lake District for £2 million, keeping hundreds of sheep and cattle.

Described as "highly confrontational" and "easily provoked", the former Deutsche Bank hedge fund manager barred a hunt from his land and accosted walkers who strayed from designated paths.

Carlisle Crown Court heard this was in stark contrast to the former owners, who had adopted a relaxed attitude to people walking across the farm, which includes part of the Coast to Coast route.

But after the police chose to remove his licence following the allegations, Judge Peter Hughes QC upheld Mr Wentworth Waites' appeal, saying "the risk of him misusing his shotgun and endangering the public safety or peace is remote".

The court heard he had accepted a caution after an argument in 2010 with a man and a woman where it was said he "shouted aggressively at the couple, swore at them, and punched the man in the face".

Another report came from March 2014, when a father and two young children, aged seven and five, were cycling when the farmer "came over to the man screaming, shouting and being very aggressive towards them".

And another incident on Christmas Eve 2015 involved two women walking their dogs, when he demanded the dogs be put on their leads and allegedly acted "loud and aggressive with a torrent of abuse".

He was also accused of saying, "I could shoot you because you were on my land".

This led Cumbria Police Assistant Chief Constable Darren Martland to conclude in April last year he did not have the "adequate temperament" to hold a shotgun certificate.

But Mr Wentworth Waites said he felt the local community had ganged up on him as an outsider and said there might have been collusion.

He also argued the gun was important to him for lambing and calving to ward off predators and that he enjoyed shooting.

Upholding his appeal, Judge Hughes concluded that although he did have "a propensity to be high-handed, short-tempered and easily provoked", on no occasion had a shotgun been involved.