Walker threw rock at horse
Retired academic’s‘fall from grace’
A retired Stirling University academic hurled a stone at a horse and swore at two young female riders after complaining about equestrian use of a footpath between Ashfield and Dunblane.
Soil chemist Dr David Farley struck Laura Campbell’s mount on the flank with the rock after shouting and swearing at her for making the path muddy with her horse’s hooves.
Miss Campbell’s horse bucked and nearly unseated her because of Farley’s actions.
At Stirling Sheriff Court on Monday, Farley, of Clachan, Ashfield, was found guilty of reckless endangerment by throwing the stone at Laura Campbell’s horse, causing it to bolt, and using threatening behaviour. He was fined £750.
The court heard that Miss Campbell (24), who works for Marks and Spencer, and a friend, Danielle Lavery, also 24, had been exercising their horses on the path, which goes through a sheep field, in February when they came across 61-year-old Farley who was walking his golden retriever.
Miss Campbell, a rider all her life, said Farley stood in front of them with his arms out and began swearing.
She said: “Danielle’s horse had to jump to one side as he wouldn’t move. His stance was very aggressive. He lunged at Danielle and he was standing with his arms out in a star shape so I couldn’t get past.”
Miss Campbell said Farley swore and his aggression made her horse “very unsettled”.
She nudged it to get it to go past over a stoney piece of ground, though she knew the animal might hurt itself.
Miss Campbell added: “Then he threw a rock and it hit my horse. My horse was jumping on the spot.
“I heard something contact the back of my horse and it bucked up and completely unseated me.”
She said she lost a stirrup but managed to avoid falling off altogether and rode up the field to where Miss Lavery now was.
While they phoned the police, Farley caught up with them and showed them he had rocks in his pocket.
Miss Campbell said: “He said he wasn’t throwing it at me, he was throwing it for his dog. I was very scared.”
Miss Lavery, a carer who told the court she had been riding since she was six, said Farley had come towards them shouting and swearing and saying they weren’t allowed on the path.
She said: “He said we’d tear up the track and make it muddy.”
In answer to questioning, Farley, originally from Blackpool but an Ashfield resident for 26 years, denied “ambushing” and “attempting to corral” the girls.
He said he had approached the women with “a wave” and wanted to talk to them because people been complaining about horses making the path muddy.
Farley denied raising his voice and claimed it had been Miss Campbell who swore at him, when he opened a gate for her.
He said: “It’s a small area, more like Ambridge, and I get on with everyone. I didn’t want any conflicts in my life.
“I would never stand in front of a horse and I was throwing nothing other than the remnants of a teddy bear for my dog.”
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson said he accepted the riders’ evidence and rejected that of Farley. His lawyer, Ken Dalling, said the conviction marked “a spectacular fall from grace” for the unmarried academic, who had no previous convictions of any kind.
He said Farley had “private means from a lifetime’s work in the university”.
Prosecutor Laura Knox said: “Dr Farley was indeed acting aggressively; it was an unsavoury incident.”
His stance was very aggressive. He lunged at Danielle