Farmer sprays cyclist wild camper.

[Mesquite]

This article was posted in an FB group I belong to.

I can understand the farmers frustration with wild campers but he risked prosecution for his actions.

 

[Chris]

Should've been prosecuted for it. Someone tucked in like that, clearly trying to keep out of the way would've moved on with a "Please leave, you're trespassing" rather than assaulting him using farming machinery.

Idiotic actions.

 

[Paul_B]

Yes, farmer went over the top in his reaction.

However, does nobody camping on worked farming land follow the well known practise of pitching late and striking early to avoid being found and being moved on or becoming an issue of conflict? To me it didn't look like an early riser that bike packer camping there.

 

[Decacraft]

I'm not sure how true it is but the camper was apparently on a charity bike ride.
Again, not certain but it looked like the farmer was using his phone whilst on a public road as well while operating machinery.

I get that they get annoyed if they catch people on their land, but a conversation before hand would of almost certainly had the camper moving on to another spot

 

[MikeLA]

Ask permission or leave before first light always the easier and sensible option.

 

[Jared]

The farmer that flipped a car off his land was acquitted, even after swiping the driver with the forks.

Teesdale farmer cleared by jury after flipping car with tractor

Robert Hooper said of altercation he had ‘felt threatened, and an Englishman’s home is his castle’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Paul_B]

I get that they get annoyed if they catch people on their land, but a conversation before hand would of almost certainly had the camper moving on to another spot

I didn't see anything to say this was done with or without a conversation first. Without knowing that you could just as easily assume the farmer had a few conversations with the camper and had got nowhere. You're probably right that there wasn't a discussion beforehand but I still think assumptions don't help and possibly indicates possibility of bias.

I just think late pitch and early depart is always advisable in such sneaky camps. That's of course if you have to and can't move on a little to a better site option, which is better still.

 

[Decacraft]

I didn't see anything to say this was done with or without a conversation first. Without knowing that you could just as easily assume the farmer had a few conversations with the camper and had got nowhere. You're probably right that there wasn't a discussion beforehand but I still think assumptions don't help and possibly indicates possibility of bias.

I just think late pitch and early depart is always advisable in such sneaky camps. That's of course if you have to and can't move on a little to a better site option, which is better still.

The video I saw earlier in the week showed the farmer driving down the country road, spotting the camper in the field and making some comment about it, turning the tractor into the field and then went ahead and sprayed him and the tent.

Not saying either party is innocent, but from what I saw it could of been handled a lot better either way- but for all I know perhaps it's a regular occurrence for the farmer and its got to breaking point, we all have them.

 

[rarms]

The farmer is a dick for filming it, other than that he was probably going to muck spread that field anyway.

 

[gibson 175]

very sad. we are all human beings. this article in the Sun newspaper just wants to perpetuate the idea of conflict between people. Who knows whether the farmer or the camper are in the right. there are always 3 sides to any argument-mine, yours and the truth. Lets have more media reports about how people are working together succesfully and less articles perpetuating division between country and town.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hard thing at this time of year, to be away early enough, when the sun is up from 5:30 to 20:30.

It does seem a gross overreaction, but I do wonder what experiences the farmer had before. I was chatting to a local farmer near some National Trust land who had a Footpath run through his farm yard. He described regularly having people wandering around off path, climbing fences and being belligerent and abusive when told they were off path, or being asked to watch out for farm equipment.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Apparently the cyclist rode 600 metres past one campsite, and another campsite was 400 metres ahead.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I can imagine that from a farmer’s perspective it could feel like they have one long conversation with the same camper, who happens to wear many faces. For the camper, they, the spot and the night are unique and special.

Booking camp sites ahead is a pain if you are just one person with a car and small tent, but must be more so with a bike. I have passed up sites where they wanted to charge me the same price as a family with a mobile Nissen hut. However, if you are midweek or off peak, you can often just turn up on sites whose websites say “prebook only”.

The farmer wasn’t just an idiot for filming himself….but how the heck did the footage get out? He must have shared it with others who shared it further. Really stupid.

 

[Stew]

I can imagine that from a farmer’s perspective it could feel like they have one long conversation with the same camper, who happens to wear many faces. For the camper, they, the spot and the night are unique and special.

It’s not exactly the same but I have a similar situation at work where people park where they shouldn’t. As far as the people are concerned it’s exactly as you say - just them - whereas from the other side it’s many!

 

[Chris]

Not sure any of the arguments here make “use farm machinery to assault someone with a potentially dangerous substance” the right course of action.

 

[Herman30]

Is there no woods in Devon to camp in, instead of camping on farmland?

 

[Pattree]

If he was stealth camping: he failed.

 

[Broch]

Not sure any of the arguments here make “use farm machinery to assault someone with a potentially dangerous substance” the right course of action.

A landowner has the right to use reasonable force to remove a trespasser that doesn’t cooperate. Cow muck reasonable force? Only for a court to decide

 

[gibson 175]

If he was stealth camping: he failed.

But if he was smealth camping: he succeeded

 

[Herman30]

Once again; in light of this incident I can see the positive sides of my sparsely populated country. Outside metropoles of the largest cities there are planty of forestland by the roads to camp in, no need to use farmland.