Firefighter arrested after farmer is killed by stampeding cows 'spooked' by siren and lights
Trampled: Harold Lee, 75, was herding his cows when they stampeded
A fireman has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a farmer was trampled to death by a herd of cows which were spooked by his siren.
Harold Lee, 75, was moving 100 dairy cows along a B-road with son Richard when a fire engine approached with full lights and sirens on.
Richard, 42, claims the driver turned off the sirens at his request but became impatient when the cows failed to move quickly and then blasted them back on.
The startled dairy cows turned and stampeded back over Harold, leaving him with serious head and chest injuries from which he died six days later.
Today it emerged that a 49-year-old fireman has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence and has been bailed until Friday.
Andrew Lee, 47, Harold's eldest son who also works at Robins Farm in Burtle, Somerset, today praised the arrest as a 'step towards justice'.
He said: 'Personally I think the siren was responsible for my father's death and his death certainly could have been avoided.
'We want to see justice done and to prevent accidents like this happening to other families. The last six months have been very tough and hard us.
'The police have been absolutely excellent to us as a family - we have been kept up to date throughout their investigation.
Angry: Mr Lee's son, Andrew, claims the stampede could have been avoided
'We want to draw a line under everything and put this behind us so we are very pleased things are moving forwards. It gives us a boost to know about the arrest.
'Things are still pretty raw at the moment and it will be until we get some answers as to why he died. Hopefully this can be a step forward to justice for him.'
The accident occurred at around 3.20pm on August 11 last year as Harold was herding 100 Holstein Friesians on a quad bike towards their milking parlour.
However, as he and Richard moved the cows 100 yards along a country road a fire engine on its way to a 999 call approached from the opposite direction.
Richard, who was at the head of the herd, says the driver of the fire engine turned off the siren and lights as he approached.
Holstein Friesian cows similar to the ones that killed Mr Lee
However, after speaking to Richard he allegedly turned the siren and lights back on in an attempt to force his way through the cattle.
Harold, who was at the rear of the herd, had dismounted to try and calm the animals but he was trampled when they stampeded.
He was airlifted to Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset, before being transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.
But Harold tragically died at around 2pm on August 17 last year from the serious chest and head injuries he sustained in the incident.
His son Richard claimed there was 'no need' for them to have their sirens on full.
He said: 'We understand they were trying to get to an accident but there was no need for them to have their sirens going. Without that this wouldn't have happened.'
A Devon and Somerset Fire spokesman have refused to comment about the arrest but said earlier that the crew was on its way to a road accident when they came across the cattle.
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