Was farmer, 23, shot dead in field hunting for fox?
A POPULAR young farmer shot dead near his family’s farm may have been out trying to hunt down a fox that had been bothering livestock.
Charles Kinston, 23, was said to have been shot after dark in a field.
Derbyshire Police said a man in his 30s had been arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail. The individual was said to be known to Mr Kinston.
Mr Kinston lived at the family farmhouse at Bretby, on the border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire, where his parents are directors of the farming business.
A source said Mr Kinston was a ‘really positive person who made everyone laugh and who didn’t have a bad bone in his body’.
The source added: ‘His death has hit us all hard. We have heard rumours that someone was trying to track down a fox.
‘I’ve never known Charles to be into any sort of hunting though.’ Another friend added: ‘He’s certainly not the type to have any enemies.’
Mr Kinston’s partner, Beth Appleyard, 23, is also a farmer. He has a young son from a previous relationship, a source said.
Mr Kinston had won awards for his farming. In 2020, he took third place in the Farmers Weekly inventions competition for the Land Rover Discovery which he had modified to do his calf-feeding rounds in. He is understood to have died in a field off Brizlincote Lane in Bretby.
A worker at the Kinston family farm said: ‘The family doesn’t know anything at the moment because it is still under investigation. It is a very hard time for them.’
Derbyshire Police said: ‘ We were alerted to an incident at 6.28pm on January 29 in which a man had been fatally
‘Significant impact’
shot in a field.’ Detective Chief Inspector Matt Croome, of the East Midlands major crime team, said: ‘This incident has had a significant impact on Mr Kinston’s family, friends and the wider community.’
‘We are limited about the information that can be passed to the public at this time. However, I want to be clear that the two individuals involved in this incident are known to one another.’
An inquest is due to be opened next month.