Lawyers for John Price appeal farmer’s 12-month jail sentence

Lawyers acting for Herefordshire farmer John Price have lodged an appeal against a judge’s decision to imprison the farmer for works he carried out along the protected River Lugg.

They claim the judge’s decision on Thursday (20 April) to impose a 12-month custodial sentence on Mr Price was too harsh and did not give sufficient weight to mitigating factors.

Adrian Roberts, Mr Price’s defence lawyer, told Farmers Weekly he had lodged an immediate appeal against his client’s sentence, adding that the grounds for appeal would be set out later.

See also: Herefordshire farmer jailed for damaging protected River Lugg

Mr Price, a potato, cereal and beef farmer from Day House Farm, Kingsland, was jailed for 12 months at Kidderminster Magistrates Court and ordered to pay more than £1.2m in court and river restoration costs.

He admitted seven out of 10 charges brought against him by the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE) related to causing “unconsented operations and causing damage to a site of special scientific interest [SSSI]”.

Mr Price spent more than 200 hours using heavy machinery to remove gravel, silt and trees and re-profile the banks on a mile-long stretch of the River Lugg, near Leominster, in late 2020.

The farmer, who owns land on both sides of the Lugg, said he carried out the work to alleviate flooding in the area after receiving verbal approval from his local EA and support from his local parish council.

But following an investigation by the EA and NE, the authorities decided to prosecute him for extensive damage to an SSSI and carrying out the works without consent.

Mr Price’s sentence has been welcomed by the EA and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, but it has caused a backlash from residents and sections of the farming community.

Local reaction

Rob Harris, who lives in Orleton, four miles from Kingsland, said: “I am severely disappointed in the outcome. The EA should be paying John for his work, not fining him.

“Mr Price cleared the blockage under the third archway of Kingsland bridge, pushing the gravel beds back up, which was what he was asked to do by a local EA representative. Our local councillor, Sebastien Bowen, was at the same meeting.

“But the EA have turned round and fined him for it and made an example of him for doing work that they should have done themselves.”

Mr Harris added: “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that if you have got silt and gravel in the bottom of a riverbed, debris and a blocked tunnel archway, the capacity of the river is greatly reduced, and water backs up to ditches and streams on farmland which creates high runoff.”

Almost 1.500 people have signed an online petition in an appeal against the court ruling.