Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Acquitted farmer hits out at heritage body for ‘malice’ in stones case
AN acquitted Tayside farmer has hit out at the public body he says needlessly dragged him through the courts.
Last month, Andrew Simpson was found not guilty of damaging historic stones at Baldovie Woods on his estate near Kirriemuir.
He had been warned the ancient items were on the land where clearing work was being done.
However, he marked the wrong rocks for workers and the Neolithic stones were disturbed.
Some of the stones alleged to have been disturbed were not even on Mr Simpson’s land.
Sheriff Jillian MartinBrown said he had taken reasonable steps to avoid their destruction when the case came to Forfar Sheriff Court.
The 82-year-old said he has always strongly rejected any criminality.
Perthshire-based Mr Simpson claims that Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has abused its power.
“The manner in which HES, a public body, investigated and proceeded with this case was one full of malice and intent to prosecute at all costs.
“Their overly formal approach throughout their investigations amounted to intimidation and harassment and their misrepresentation of the facts caused greater reputational damage.
“Bear in mind that this whole investigation has arisen as part of an unfortunate incident, caused predominantly by the inadequate information supplied by HES and the poor upkeep of a historic monument by the body publicly funded to care for Scotland’s historic environment.
A spokesperson for HES said: “HES is committed to investigating incidents of damage to scheduled monuments.
“We work closely with landowners to provide advice and guidance about their responsibility in relation to scheduled monuments.
“We will review this case in light of the court’s findings.”