A retired police officer has been fined after assaulting a serving West Yorkshire Police sergeant and directing homophobic abuse at her during a dispute over a paddock fence in Leeds.
Gillian Crann, 62, was found guilty at Leeds Magistrates’ Court of assault and using abusive words to cause alarm and distress following a trial. She was ordered to pay £2,107, including £100 compensation to show jumper Amy Meecham.
The court heard the women rented adjoining paddocks at Rodley Fold Farm, where they kept their horses. The dispute began after one of Mrs Meecham’s horses chewed through a post in the boundary fence.
Mrs Meecham, an accomplished event rider who competes with Forces Equine, had bought replacement stakes and installed a temporary electric fence while awaiting a longer-term repair.
But on October 11 last year, Crann entered Mrs Meecham’s two-and-a-half-acre field to challenge her about the delay. Mrs Meecham, who had arrived directly from work and was still wearing her police uniform, told the court she repeatedly asked Crann to leave.
“I asked her calmly to get out of my field,” she said. “She had previously come into my field and refused to leave.”
Mrs Meecham said Crann replied: “It is trespass, it’s a civil matter.” She said the retired officer became increasingly angry before attempting to hit her in the face.
According to Mrs Meecham, Crann slapped and scratched her, grabbed the collar of her police shirt and tore off a button and an epaulette. Mrs Meecham said she held Crann’s wrists to stop the attack and pushed her away when she continued pulling at her clothing.
“She was wild,” Mrs Meecham told the court. “She was saying ‘You are not at work now, you can’t make me leave’.”
She said Crann then kicked her in the left leg and shouted that her husband no longer loved her, while calling her a “d*ke” and “a c*ck in a frock”.
Lee Parcell, another horse owner at the farm, said she saw Mrs Meecham politely asking Crann to leave. She told the court that Crann grabbed Mrs Meecham by the neck, while Mrs Meecham pushed her away to make her let go.
Ms Parcell also recalled seeing the torn collar and a muddy kick mark on Mrs Meecham’s jeans. She said horses chewing posts was “completely normal” at stables.
Crann denied attacking Mrs Meecham and claimed she had acted in self-defence after the police sergeant used a palm strike, which she described as a recognised police technique, to push her to the ground.
“To stop myself falling I grabbed her shirt,” Crann told the court. She also claimed Mrs Meecham struck her in the face and denied saying that her husband no longer loved her.
However, Crann admitted using the two homophobic insults. She said: “It came out because I was describing her as being manly looking. It was just a throw away comment.”
Chair Philip Sellen said magistrates accepted Mrs Meecham’s account, which had been supported by Ms Parcell’s evidence. He said Crann had admitted using the words and that they had been intended to cause distress.
Crann, who retired from the police 13 years ago and is widowed, was also given a 12-month restraining order. It prevents her contacting Mrs Meecham or entering plot two, field four, at Rodley Fold Farm.
