Accused farmer: shotgun claims ‘a total fabrication’

10:47am Friday 9th May 2008

A FARMER accused of putting his estranged wife in fear of her life by aiming a shotgun at her has described the allegation as "a total fabrication".

Tony Whitehead yesterday gave evidence on the third day of his trial at Teesside Crown Court and dismissed parts of former wife Sharon's story as "complete lies".

The 46-year-old said he believed she made up the allegation to create a "bargaining chip" for their divorce to help her get a better financial settlement.

Mr Whitehead had been served with divorce papers by his wife three months before the alleged incident at their farm, near Darlington, last August.

It has been claimed that he was in a rage after she had a night out with her sister and friends, and accused the 40-year-old of having an affair.

The jury has heard that Mr Whitehead sent her a string of menacing text messages, and in one he threatened to burn all of her clothes.

Mr Whitehead admitted making the threat but said he would never have done it and it was "tit for tat" after his wife had cut up his clothes months earlier.

The court has heard hours of mud-slinging from both sides and prosecutor Paul Newcombe yesterday said the trial had been more like a divorce hearing.

Cross-examining Mr Whitehead, Mr Newcombe accused him of "letting yourself down very badly" on the night of the alleged incident.

Mr Newcombe accused Mr Whitehead of having a temper he was trying to hide, but the farmer, a twice-divorced fatherof- three, denied it.

He insisted he had not snapped when his wife returned home and denied he had ever touched the Greener 12-gauge shotgun that night.

The jury saw video footage from a police helicopter which had been called to Lea Close Farm in Great Stainton, by mother-of-five Mrs Whitehead.

Mr Whitehead claimed the video showed him in a composed and relaxed mood outside the farmhouse and his wife happy to talk to him.

He also told the jury that despite his arrest and bail conditions not to approach his wife, they had two days out with their daughter on her insistence.

Asked by his barrister, Chris Morrison, if she was in fear during the day-trips, Mr Whitehead said: "No, she was totally happy.

She orchestrated the meetings."

Mrs Whitehead claims her husband "lost the plot" and aimed the shotgun at her when she returned home from the night out on August 20.

Mr Whitehead has pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm without a certificate, but denies possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and his trial continues today.