A CROWD funding appeal to help a farmer pay his £30,000 legal costs has raised more than £20,000.

Nick Freeman, also known as Mr Loophole, has defended celebrities including David Beckham and Jimmy Carr, and started the fund for Kenneth Hugill, 83, after he was acquitted of Grievous Bodily Harm when he shot a man on his farm in Wilberfoss, near York, in November 2015.

Father-of-three Mr Hugill used a double-barrelled shotgun to shoot Richard Stables, 44, in pitch darkness outside Mill House Farm.

The court heard the man who he shot in the foot has convictions for burglary, theft and possession of an offensive weapon, and, at hospital, gave three different versions of events before admitting a farmer had shot him.

The crowdfunding page was set up in March 12 to help Mr Hugill and his family pay the huge legal costs.

The fund has now reached £21,485 and 930 people from across the country have made a donation.

To contribute go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/supportkennethhugill