An airport boss has been slapped with a fine after he dragged a councillor by his hair after he confronted him over an illegal tree felling.
Chris Makin, 65, launched a vicious attack against Andrew Mason, 63, after he spotted the businessman and some contractors carrying out work on the boundary of Leeds East Airport on April 4 last year. Mr Mason told the airport owner that he didn't have permission to fell them or shut the road. The councillor further raised his concerns about birds nesting in the trees as he walked to the village shop in Church Fenton, North Yorkshire.
Mr Mason was on his way to a volunteering shift when he intervened in the felling and "protested" by positioning himself in front of a cherry picker. On Friday, Harrogate Magistrates Court heard how Makin then dragged him across the road by his hair and belt during the act of "brutalisation" against him.
Makin put him in a headlock and broke his glasses during the "persistent" assault in front of shocked locals who recorded the frightening moment on their phones. Mr Mason could be heard repeatedly shouting: "Get off me". Makin was even heard to order the cherrypicker operator to "move it forwards", leaving Andrew fearing he could have been killed by the machinery.
The court heard that the workmen did not get involved in the altercation. Andrew, who chairs the local parish council, said the two men only knew each other "vaguely" before the incident but said that Makin was "out of control". He also said his clothes were torn and he suffered muscle damage following the incident.
In a victim impact statement, Andrew added: “This was a deep injustice that took place in a village that I love. I feared further brutalisation.” Mankin has owned the former RAF Church Fenton base since around 2016. And the court was told he believed he had "lawful justification" for crowning the trees under his responsibility to ‘make the airport a safe environment’.
He had continued to carry out the work that day even after police had visited the scene and advised him to stop and obtain permission, magistrates were told. Mankin said he had been doing so because of Civil Aviation Authority regulations ahead of a vintage airshow the site was hosting. His defence counsel said his client had only closed the road because it was a ‘windy’ day and that the birds’ nests were all empty.
He said Makin was "not a thug" and he was a man who "is used to getting jobs done and got a job done, but went about it in the wrong way." Makin, of Micklefield, has no previous convictions, and the bench decided against imposing a community order or unpaid work. This is because they heard it would serve ‘no rehabilitative purpose’ and deemed that he had ‘learned a lesson’ by the loss of his good reputation.
Instead, he was told to pay over £8,000 in fines, costs and compensation to Andrew after finding him guilty of assault by beating. Speaking outside the court, Andrew said: “Justice has been done. Civil society broke down that day. Makin is now a convicted criminal and he has lost his good name.”