Parish councillor who was honoured as ‘green farmer of the year’ faces four years in jail for ramming his tractor into a GP’s car during a road-rage row
- Andrew Hollinshead, 54, ploughed his tractor into Dr Paul Uglow’s VW Tiguan
A farmer honoured for his environmentally friendly initiatives is facing jail after he rammed a GP’s car with his tractor during a road-rage row.
Parish councillor Andrew Hollinshead, 54, who was named ‘Green Farmer of the Year’ at the Northern Farmer Awards in 2016, ploughed his seven-tonne vehicle into Paul Uglow’s VW Tiguan.
Dr Uglow, 48, had followed Hollinshead back to his farm near Sandbach, Cheshire, after the farmer ‘cut him up’ at a junction.
But when he stopped to speak to Hollinshead, the farmer drove his tractor straight at him. The VW sustained £13,000 of damage, while the driver’s side window shattered and cut Dr Uglow’s arm.
Hollinshead, who was honoured for using a wind turbine, solar panels and a hydrogen refuelling station at his farm, was convicted of criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Crewe Magistrates’ Court.
Parish councillor Andrew Hollinshead, 54, (pictured outside Crewe magistrates court) ploughed his seven-tonne vehicle into Paul Uglow’s VW Tiguan
Hollinshead (pictured on his Cheshire farm) was named ‘Green Farmer of the Year’ at the Northern Farmer Awards in 2016
He faces up to four years in jail if the case is sent to a crown court for sentencing later this month. The incident occurred on the A534 last July, when Dr Uglow was driving home from his surgery at Haslington medical centre near Crew.
Prosecutor Simon Leong said Dr Uglow saw a tractor pull out on the right in front of him, which caused him to make an emergency stop. The tractor’s driver then gave the GP a ‘middle-finger salute’, he added. ‘Dr Uglow then made the decision to follow the tractor as he wished to speak to the driver about what happened. At the defendant’s farm, he rolled down the window, saying ‘Can I have a word please?’
‘But the driver of the tractor, who was about 50 yards away across the yard, went straight in his direction and rammed straight into the driver’s side of the vehicle where Dr Uglow was sitting.’
Dr Uglow, 48, (pictured outside Crewe magistrates court) had followed Hollinshead back to his farm near Sandbach, Cheshire, after the farmer ‘cut him up’ at a junction
Andrew Hollinshead picked up his Green Farmer of the year award in 2016 (pictured) for using a wind turbine, solar panels and a hydrogen refuelling station at his farm
Dr Uglow told the hearing: ‘The tractor hit the front driver’s side wheel arch and the driver’s door. On the front of the tractor was a box and a couple of spiky things on it. He used that to hit my vehicle.
‘He kept pushing against the vehicle for what seemed like a long time. He kept pushing and the crumpling sound went on for quite a little while. He saw me and drove straight into my vehicle at speed before I had any chance to get out.’ After Hollinshead left the scene, Dr Uglow told a 999 operator that he was ‘shaking like a leaf’ and that the tractor driver was ‘an absolute animal’.
Hollinshead told the court he had given ‘thinking time and stopping time’ to Dr Uglow when he pulled in front of him, but alleged the other driver ‘did not see’ the tractor.
He said he went back to his farm, and as he returned to his yard, he saw the doctor ‘coming at great speed’ down the driveway and ‘flying into our yard’. He added: ‘He drove the car at speed straight in front of my tractor. At which point, I slammed the brakes and we ended up having a bit of a collision.’
