Farmer must pay thief damages for injuries

A farmer must pay damages for injuring a thief he caught stealing roof slates from his piggery. The High Court in Leeds was told yesterday that farmer Stanley Wiles, 63, kicked out violently as Malcolm Phillips crawled along an alleyway - already suffering a broken leg and fractured skull.

Mr Phillips, 37, from Tang Hall, York, had sued the farmer, from Osgodby, Selby, North Yorkshire, for damages for injuries, including the fractured skull and leg and a fractured jaw, which was sustained during the incident on the night of 18 January, 1991. But Mrs Justice Smith ruled that Mr Wiles was only liable for the fractured jaw and the other injuries inflicted when he kicked Mr Phillips. Damages will be assessed at a later date.

Mr Phillips was given a conditional discharge when he appeared before York magistrates' court in 1991 and admitted attempting to steal the roof slates. In 1992, a jury at York Crown Court acquitted Mr Wiles of wounding Mr Phillips with intent.