A FORMER Wiveliscombe rugby player and farmer who confronted a neighbour with a shotgun in a row over sheep worrying has been jailed for ten months after a jury found him guilty of having a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Robert Norman, 52, of Hillview Farm, Brompton Ralph, drove up to Richard Webber at Pitpear Farm, Lydeard St Lawrence, and threatened to shoot his dogs for killing two of his ewes. When his neighbour defied him, he pointed a shotgun at his chest and said ‘I’ll shoot you then,’ Taunton Crown Court was told.

Judge David Ticehurst said Norman’s behaviour was “wholly inappropriate and unjustified – the jury concluded you deliberately armed yourself with a shotgun and cartridges”.

He said Mr Webber feared for his life and was also worried for the safety of his partner, Louise, and children. For months after the incident, in March last year, he feared Norman would return and was ‘constantly looking over my shoulder’. He and his partner were left suffering from depression.

A witness thought Norman was going to shoot Mr Webber and it would have been a terrifying experience. The judge added: “Mr Webber would not have known if the gun was loaded or not. If the barrel of a shotgun is not broken the assumption is that it is loaded, and there were children present, although in the safety of a car.”

He said there was clearly an element of ill-will against the Webbers in the community ‘but whether that’s justified or not it’s not for me to say’.

The judge said it was clear Norman had borrowed the shotgun with the intention to shoot Mr Webber’s dogs ‘and when frustrated, you threatened to shoot Mr Webber’. He recognised the effect a prison sentence would have on Norman, his way of life and his family and added: “But to threaten someone with a shotgun in the manner you did is wholly unacceptable.”

The ‘least’ sentence was ten months in prison, and concurrent sentences were also handed down of six months for possessing a firearm without a certificate and one month for assault, to which he pleaded guilty.

The judge said he had reached the ‘regrettable decision’ that the sentence could not be suspended. He also announced a restraining order banning contact with Mr Webber or driving along a road through his farm for ten years.

The judge also awarded £250 from public funds to Melissa Bell for her ‘public spirited behaviour’ in standing between the two farmers to prevent Mr Webber being harmed. He said she had also been given the Chief Constable’s award for bravery.

Patrick Mason, defending, said Norman was widely respected in the community where he lived with his partner and two children and he was ‘a very good-hearted man’. His life was pestered by dogs and he had been provoked by dogs which were of ‘a particular nuisance’. A report to an all-party parliamentary committee on animal welfare had said that 15,000 sheep a year died ‘as a result of this sort of thing’.

Norman was physically tough and robust but his mental health had caused him to tip over the rails. If he had meant to cause Mr Webber harm he could have easily overwhelmed him physically and there was no evidence the gun was loaded. There had been no trouble since the incident a year ago.

He had been under extreme provocation and stress and if he went to prison the effect on him, his family and community would be ‘excessive and disproportionate’ and he would ‘probably go into bankruptcy’. He had shown remorse and learned his lesson.