Lancashire: Farmer arrested after hogtying ‘trespassers’, putting them on quad bike and taking them to police

A farmer who caught two men allegedly trespassing on his land before he hog-tied them to his quad bike to drive them to a local police station was then arrested himself.

The 52-year-old had strapped the pair, aged 17 and 20, across the front and back of his vehicle before driving them six kilometres to turn them in.

But instead of quizzing them about their alleged trespass, officers marched him in for questioning and later arrested him on suspicion of false imprisonment and assault.

On Thursday, one of the men revealed he had been “frightened to death” by the ordeal at the unidentified farm in Lancashire last weekend.

Leland Hornby, 17, told The Sun that his friend had been riding his electric bike across the farmer’s field on Saturday night. But when he went to leave he found the farmer had locked the gates.

His unnamed friend then decided to leave his bike on the property overnight and come back to pick it up the following morning.

However, upon his return to the farm, the bike seemed to have vanished.

“As we walked back the farmer came up behind us, jumped off his quad bike and tackled us to the ground,” Mr Hornby told the newspaper.

The pair attempted to outrun the furious farmer but he allegedly managed to capture both of them, then pulled their hoods over their heads and lashed their hands and feet together, immobilising them completely.

Mr Hornby, a construction worker, said he was on the back of the small off-road vehicle and his friend was at the front, adding that he was scared of what the farmer might do.

CCTV images captured the moment the quad bike raced through winding local roads before arriving at the police station.

Mr Hornby’s mother told the newspaper: “They were frightened to death. Absolutely terrified. The pair of them have nearly fallen off the quad bike.”

She said the experience had left her upset and baffled as to why the farmer had allegedly reacted in such an extreme way instead of calling the police to his farm.

Lancashire Police said officers were called to a property on Sunday by a man who said he had detained two males. But as officers made their way to the farm, the farmer called again to announce that he had already arrived at a local police station with the pair.

The force said: “When officers went to meet the man, they found a teenager and a man in his 20s on a quad bike with their hands and feet tied. They were not secured to the quad bike.”

Following the incident, several social media users praised the farmer for his actions.

Under a post showing the two males tied to the quad, one said on Facebook: “Brilliant! And I hope to see more of this in the future!”

Another added: “Vigilante justice!’ A third posted: ‘Excellent! Shame we can’t see the faces!”

The farmer has been released on bail pending further enquiries.