A FARMER who shot a puppy on its owner's doorstep after it killed his sheep walked free from court when magistrates told him his actions were justified.

Raymond Flintoft, 42, of South House, Bransdale, Fadmoor, who farms at Pockley, near Helmsley, was cleared of armed trespass and the unlawful destruction of Moses, a six-month Jack Russell, at owner Vanessa Cecil's home.

After the case at Pickering Magistrates Court, Mr Flintoft told the Evening Press he thought it should never have been brought. But Mrs Cecil maintained she was the victim and said the incident had caused so much upset she now felt she would have to move away.

Pickering Magistrates heard Mr Flintoft first shot a two-year-old Patterdale terrier called Otis, also owned by Mrs Cecil, in his field minutes after he saw it and Moses kill a sheep.

He then chased Moses to Mrs Cecil's home at Newgate Foot, Pockley, and shot the puppy dead. Magistrates heard Mrs Cecil's dogs were regularly seen unattended among sheep.

Mrs Cecil, ex-wife of racing trainer David Cecil, admitted her dogs regularly roamed unattended, but they were used to sheep and she did not believe they would attack.

Clearing Mr Flintoft, magistrates said there was no doubt he had been on Mrs Cecil's land with a firearm. But Keith Taylor, chairman of the magistrates, said: "However, we are of the opinion that you honestly and genuinely believed yourself not to be a trespasser and you believed that you had reasonable cause to be there.

"We are also of the opinion that the prosecution have not proved beyond reasonable doubt that you destroyed the animal without lawful excuse. You destroyed it in order to protect your property. We believe you had reasonable cause having witnessed two dogs in the act of killing sheep."

After the case, Mr Flintoft said: "I didn't think it should ever have been brought to court after what I saw happening to my sheep. I couldn't believe the arrogance of the dog owner who still thought she had done nothing wrong."

Asked whether he would do the same thing again in similar circumstances, he said: "Maybe I would do it differently next time."

But Mrs Cecil said: "This is a very sad example of life in this country, that the perpetrator is supported while the victim is shoved to one side. This man came on to my land with a gun and he shot my dog. I have lived here for nine years, but this has made a significant disturbance in the area. I shall certainly have to move now."

Geoff Todd of the Kirkbymoorside branch of the National Farmers' Union said he hoped the case would send a strong message out to dog owners about their responsibilities.

Updated: 09:56 Saturday, June 29, 2002