Digger depression

Lister, 38, of Ryleys Farm House, Grittleton, had pleaded guilty at a hearing on April 23 to three charges of causing criminal damage to horse chestnut trees.

Andy Pritchard, prosecuting, told Chippenham magistrates on Tuesday that police officers were called out at 1am on April 16 because Lister was driving a mini digger down the lane towards his house, swinging the bucket from side to side.

The digger smashed branches down from the trees in front of other homes in the lane.

At the end of the lane he drove the digger into a pond outside his own home, then got out of the cab and was arrested.

The damaged trees belonged to three different people and the damage was valued at £250 for two trees and £500 for the third although Mr Pritchard admitted that valuing trees was difficult.

He told the court that Lister had a previous conviction for damaging a car with the digger.

Cerys Beresford-Evans, defending, said the event had arisen from a neighbours' dispute about cutting back the trees which, she claimed, obstructed the access lane.

"There are a number of large trees approximately 30 years old, which have never been cut back in any way and are now huge," she said.

Ms Beresford-Evans said a problem arose when larger vehicles, such as delivery lorries, tried to use the lane.

While some residents had allowed trees to be cut back, others had resisted.

"The neighbours were falling out about it and my client was at the end of his tether," she said.

Lister had been taking anti depressants for three years and had given up his business because of stress, she said, and was taking painkillers for a broken rib.

He also had a couple of drinks that night and as a result was not thinking clearly.

"He took the digger and tried to move away the branches, not destroy the trees," she said.

As a result of the incident and its sinking, the digger needed repairs of £4,500 and has now been sold.

Lister also paid around £300 for a tree surgeon to tidy up the trees.

He has 18 months' of a community rehabilitation order still to serve for the previous conviction.

He has no income at present, as he is looking after his children while his wife supports the family financially, the court heard.

Magistrates noted his early guilty plea, that it was a neighbours' dispute, and that Lister had subsequently hired a tree surgeon.

He was ordered to pay £43 towards costs.

A further charge of drink driving the same night was discontinued.

Police fire crews and the police helicopter were called out on the night of the attack.

The firefighters even summoned a water rescue unit because it was at first feared Lister was trapped in his cab in the pond.

He was taken to Melksham police station following his arrest.

Neigbours angry at court leniency

NEIGHBOURS are incensed that Charles Lister got away with a conditional discharge for his attack on their trees.

One has claimed he is a Jekyll and Hyde character who has ruined their peaceful lives.

The neighbours, who do not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said other people in the lane did not want to speak up because of Lister's unpredictable behaviour but they all wanted to be rid of him.

One neighbour said: "I can't believe he just got a conditional discharge. He is a nutter a loon.

"Probably prison wouldn't be the right answer, but some kind of community service order would mean he would pay back something after all the tax payers' money wasted having police and helicopters out here.

"Perhaps he should have been sent out planting trees."

The neighbour said they were all worried he would flip and turn violent.

"He might do anything put something nasty in your garden. You just wouldn't know with him.

"This isn't normal loutish behaviour it's worse than that.

"He's a real Jekyll and Hyde character."

Neighbours were particularly incensed to learn Lister's defence in court included an account of a long running neighbour dispute. They said Lister had never once asked them to cut back their trees.

"Why weren't we asked to give our side of the story?" one said. "They just heard his side of it."

The neighbours said they believed Lister was selling up and moving out of his large farmhouse home.

One said: "We all just want him gone. I hope he sells as quickly as possible and goes.

"But of course that will mean moving the problem on to someone else."

The neighbours heard the first digger attack on a woman's car, which began after a dinner party row got out of hand, but did not witness it.

When Lister attacked the trees they were woken at 1am and went outside to see him wreaking a path of devastation along the lane.

They said it was frightening as Lister had apparently lost all sense of self control and they feared for their personal safety.

One said: "Usually he's a reasonable man, and I haven't had much to do with him, but then it seemed like he really would not have cared what happened.

"Afterwards it looked like a hurricane had hit the area.

"This is a lovely peaceful place, and we don't need someone going mad and attacking things.

He has not spoken to us since the incident and has avoided us."