Gyrocopter pilot ‘killed hunt supporter by cleaving his head from top to bottom with propeller blade’
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:06 PM on 02nd March 2010
A fox hunting supporter’s head was cleaved from ‘top to bottom’ by the blades of a gyrocopter after he tried to confront the pilot for tracking his hunt, a court heard today.
Jurors watched in horror as a gruesome video showing the last seconds of Trevor Morse’s life were played to a hushed courtroom.
Mr Morse, 48, was killed instantly after being hit by the rear propellers of the gyrocopter, being piloted by Bryan Griffiths, which were rotating at 200mph.
Birmingham Crown Court heard that Mr Morse had been trying to stop Griffiths from taking off again after he stopped to refuel.
Griffiths had been monitoring the hunt from his gyrocopter - a small open helicopter - and was confronted by Mr Morse and another hunt supporter.
Mr Morse refused to move out of the way as Griffiths went towards him and the rear propeller of the gyrocopter cut Mr Morse’s head from top to bottom, the court heard.
Prosecutor Gareth Evans QC told the court: 'Just under a year ago, on March 9, 2009, a 48-year-old man called Trevor Morse, who was deliberately trying to stop a gyrocopter taking off, was killed.
'He was killed when his head was struck by the rear propeller blade of the gyrocopter.
'That gyrocopter was being driven by this defendant along the runway of Long Marston airfield in Warwickshire.
'The blade of the rear propeller cleaved Mr Morse’s head from top to bottom.
'Unfortunately it also dramatically removed a portion of his brain and threw it away from him. Mercifully, death was instantaneous.
'The prosecution say that this man, the defendant, is criminally liable for this death.
‘We say that he is guilty of manslaughter, we say that he caused Trevor Morse’s death by his own gross negligence.’
Mr Evans said Griffiths deliberately drove the gyrocopter at Mr Morse, with the rear propeller spinning at a speed approaching 200mph.
He said: ‘Doing so, we say, was reckless in the extreme because the manoeuvre carried with it a very, very real risk that Mr Morse would come into contact with the revolving, unguarded rear propeller blades of the gyrocopter.’
The court heard Mr Morse was acting as a road monitor on March 3 last year during the last day of the hunting season for the Warwickshire Hunt.
Mr Evans said Griffiths owned the gyrocopter and although he was not an anti-hunt activist, had previously flown the machine above the hunt to monitor their actions, often with a passenger filming them.
On that day, when Mr Morse spotted the gyrocopter heading off towards Long Marston airfield to refuel, he got in a Land Rover with a fellow hunt supporter to confront the pilot.
When they were at the airfield, Mr Morse tried to stop Griffiths taking off by standing in front of the gyrocopter.
He refused to move out of the way, and as Griffiths drove forwards in the gyrocopter the rear propeller caught Mr Morse, cutting his head from top to bottom.
The jury was shown an edited video of the stand-off between Mr Morse and Griffiths - caught on camera by the pilot’s passenger.
As he refuses to move out of the way, a voice can be heard to say to Mr Morse: ‘You are obstructing him taking off, you have no right to do that, you have no right to do that.’
The video shows Mr Morse enlisting the help of the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to come and stand in the way of the gyrocopter.
The propellers can be heard to speed up, followed by a bang.
The video shown to the jury was cut at the point the propeller hit Mr Morse, then cut again to see him lying on the ground.
A voice can then be heard to say: ‘Oh dear, the t*** didn’t stand clear of it.’
Mr Evans said it was quite clear Griffiths wanted to leave, and also clear Mr Morse was not willing to let him leave.
He said: 'There is no doubt about it. His intention was stopping that gyrocopter from taking off.
'He was not standing there for the good of his health.
'At one stage he moved the Land Rover closer to the gyrocopter to stop it getting away in an attempt to block its getaway.
‘He made it plain that he was obstructing that gyrocopter’s take-off and when asked to get out of the way he refused to do so.’
Mr Evans said Griffiths had not gently inched towards Mr Morse, but had travelled at speed.
He said: ‘This was not a general nudging movement. It was carried out, we say, at speed. This was no inching movement.’
The trial continues.
