Thomas Allen · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 27th of December 2012 I commenced an investigation into the death of Thomas Allen. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on the 9th of April 2014. The conclusion of the inquest was Accidental Death, the death of Mr Allen being from Cerebral Contusions following a Road Traffic Collision.

The circumstances of Thomas Allen’s death on Christmas Day 2012 are particularly sad and resulted from ‘fly grazing’, that is the unauthorised grazing of horses or ponies on land without the agreement of the landowner, and horses subsequently getting loose. In the months leading up to this tragedy, there were at least ten reported incidents of horses that had been fly grazing getting loose in this area, some then being found on or near roads, and there were repeated concerns that a road traffic collision would occur as a consequence of this. The horse owner had repeatedly been asked to remove the horses from the site. On Christmas Eve 2012 at 10-35pm, Mr Allen and his partner were driving along a section of the A14 which was unlit and had very little ambient light when five untethered horses entered the A14 carriageway. Collisions then occurred in which Mr Allen received injuries from which he died the next day, three further cars were hit and three horses were killed. The horses were only visible at the very last minute, and none of the drivers could take any avoiding action. At the request of the CPS, the inquest was deferred until after the criminal trial and, in March 2013, the owner was sentenced having pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance, it being felt that there was not sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for involuntary manslaughter by gross negligence. The subsequent inquest today heard that fly grazing was a national problem and that this was an accident waiting to happen. It was noted that the National Farmer’s Union has called for fly grazing to be made a criminal offence to ensure that action can be taken more quickly and offenders brought to justice, and it has suggested that police forces and local authorities should draw up protocols to deal with these problems jointly.

Fly grazing is a national problem which is currently more difficult to curtail because
(1) It is not currently a criminal offence in England (although I understand that steps are being taken to remedy this in Wales)
(2) A police/local authority protocol is being worked on but not currently in force in Suffolk.