Friday, June 14, 2013

Aristocrat assaulted neighbour and treated him 'like a peasant' after ramming his car into the pensioner's fence in row over boundary on 1,500 acre estate


Colfox stormed into his home and assaulted his neighbour by repeatedly shoulder barging him
Colfox stormed into his home and assaulted his neighbour by repeatedly shoulder barging him
An aristocrat attacked his pensioner neighbour after driving through a garden fence that had been the source of a boundary row between them.
Philip Colfox, the son of Baronet Sir John Colfox, saw 'red mist' after 66-year-old Stewart Tattershall erected the structure on a patch of overgrown land bordering their properties.
The country squire drove his Volkswagen Beetle car down a dirt track and smashed into the wooden fence, twice reversing into it to knock it down, a court was told.
Colfox's grandfather was the late Baronet Sir Philip Colfox, a First World War hero and former Conservative MP.
The family are the main landowners in the village of Symondsbury, Dorset, and the local secondary school is named after Colfox’s father, Sir John, second baronet.
The court heard he stormed into his neighbour's home and assaulted him by repeatedly shoulder barging him.
Colfox, a Liberal Democrat town councillor, threatened Mr Tattershall with legal action and talked at him and wife Jennifer 'like they were peasants' in the unseemly row.
The police were called and the 50-year-old was charged with assault by beating Mr Tattershall.
He denied the offence but was found guilty following a trial. He was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay his victim £100 in compensation.

Mr Tattershall’s three bed house backs onto the Colfox's 1,500 acre estate and the two parties had co-existed quite happily until a year ago when they fell out over a portion of land.
The damaged fence after Philip Colfox's frenzied attack in his VW Beetle
Red mist: The damaged fence after Philip Colfox's frenzied attack in his VW Beetle
Mr Tattershall, a retired builder, claims he had maintained the 30ft by 20ft land that backs onto his home for the last 18 years.
When he and his wife looked to put their home up for sale last year he set about clearing several derelict outbuildings on the land he feared would put buyers off.
The Land Registry registered the land in his name as he had looked after it for nearly 20 years, resulting in him putting up the 4ft fence to act as the new boundary.
After seeing the new structure Colfox lost his temper and drove to his neighbour’s house.
Mr Tattershall said: 'He acted like a maniac. He smashed in the fence with his car and then let himself in to my house and assaulted me.
'I was just coming down the stairs at the time and he kept on using his shoulder to barge me.
The Liberal Democrat councillor, who owns a sprawling 1,500 acre estate and huge home (pictured), denied shoulder-barging his neighbour
The Liberal Democrat councillor, who owns a sprawling 1,500 acre estate and huge home (pictured), denied shoulder-barging his neighbour
Philip Colfox stormed into Mr Tattershall's home (pictured) and spoke to his neighbours 'like they were peasants', a court heard
Philip Colfox stormed into Mr Tattershall's home (pictured) and spoke to his neighbours 'like they were peasants', a court heard
The aristocrat drove down a dirt track and smashed through a fence that his neighbour had erected after they rowed over a portion of land
The aristocrat drove down a dirt track and smashed through a fence that his neighbour had erected after they rowed over a portion of land
'He was ranting on about I had no rights to do what I was doing.'
Mrs Tattershall was also in the room when the incident took place and said Colfox had come in talking to them 'like they were peasants.'
Giving evidence Colfox admitted the ‘red mist’ had come down over him when he drove into the fence but denied shoulder-barging his neighbour.
Sitting at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court, district judge Stephen Nicholls found Colfox guilty of assault.
He said: 'I'm satisfied Mr Colfox did assault Mr Tarttershall in the manner described. In my view it was a deliberate assault on Mr Tattershall.'
Colfox said afterwards that he would be appealing against the conviction.
The disputed land has since been registered in the Colfox family name after Mr Tattershall backed down from claiming ownership.
DAILYMAIL

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