A Fife farm owner accused of using his dogs to deter walkers from using a disputed “right of way” through his property has been fined by a sheriff.
Mica Giles was previously found guilty of letting his two Border Collies lunge towards another dog being walked at his farm.
The court case centred on a disputed public right of way through Giles’ farmyard at West Baldridge Road, Dunfermline.
The landowner said he had taken legal advice and was told there was no public right of way through his property so the incidents occurred on private land on which his dogs are free to roam.
When prosecutors suggested to him he was deliberately using his dogs to stop people using the route, he said: “My dogs are not aggressive.
“If I released them, they would just go over and play.”
The charges
The 52-year-old had denied the two charges he faced at Dunfermline Sheriff Court but was convicted of both by Sheriff Lindsay Foulis.
On October 1 2020 at a public right of way at West Baldridge Farm, his dogs – while unsupervised, untethered and unmuzzled – ran towards Ian Hood and his tethered Labrador, barked aggressively and lunged towards the other dog.
On March 7 last year, the same offence happened in an incident involving Mr Hood’s father, Robert Hood, who was walking the same dog.
Giles appeared in the dock for sentencing on Monday and said he had recently been made redundant from his job as a financial modeller.
Sheriff Foulis highlighted a report on the dogs concluded they were not aggressive and seemed well trained and socialised and that Giles kept them under control.
The court also heard Giles, who owns West Baldridge Farm House, had no previous convictions.
Sheriff Foulis fined Giles a total of £500.
Hit dog with stick
The trial heard previously from Ian Hood, 39, a postman, who said he was walking through the farm with his dad’s dog when the collies ran from one of the buildings.
He said: “They were barking, were aggressive and went for the dog.
“The dog was very scared and trying to hide behind me.
“I put myself between it and the collies and was shouting at them to get back.
“They were trying to bite the dog but they didn’t manage it.”
He said the route was a public right of way for “as long as I can remember.”
Mr Hood’s 70-year-old father, Robert told the trial: “The owner didn’t want people walking through the yard.
“I believe he didn’t know it was a right of way but it has been as long as I can remember.
“I’ve been walking my dogs there for 30 years and there’s a lot of other people do the same.
“Two black and white dogs came running out at my dog.
“They were barking and snarling.
“I was trying to protect my dog.
“I saw someone to my right but he wasn’t doing anything to call the dogs off.
“I was attempting to fend the dogs off with my walking stick.
“I was crouched down and hit one of them on the back with my stick.”
‘Get off my property’
The man, identified by the witness as the accused, then screamed: “You’ve hit my dogs.”
Mr Hood said the accused shouted: “Get off my property now” and called the police.
“He was taking photos of me on his phone then made a 999 call and was screaming down the phone saying that someone had hit his dog.
“He also claimed that I had hit him with my walking stick.
“I turned around and said, ‘liar’ to him.
“He was still in a rage and shouting down the phone.”
Mr Hood Snr said his dog had not been injured but was “very, very frightened and cowering”.
Asked how he felt during the incident, he answered: “I was intimidated, to say the least.”
Previous incident
Yvonne Morrison, 54, a lecturer, said four years ago she had been walking her dog through the farmyard when two border collies “went for” her pet, one for its throat.
She said the incident came back to her when she met Robert Hood walking his dog and he told her about his experience.
PC Ross Menzies said he had visited the farm to investigate and the two dogs ran towards him, barking.
The officer said as far as he was aware the area involved is a public right of way.
Giles, who says he has lived at the farm for 25 years, told the trial there is disagreement about restricted access at the property.
He said he’s had threats made to his safety suggested checking police records.
Giles said there is no legal right of way and this is “categorical”.
In reaching his verdict, Sheriff Foulis said it was not his function to speculate about whether it is a right of way.
He said from the evidence he had heard, the incidents occurred in a public place and found Giles guilty of both charges.
