A FARMER has been warned to prepare himself for a prison sentence after being found guilty of causing the death of a former council employee.

Frank Fenning, 79, was on his way to pick up the Sunday papers when the three tonne trailer being pulled by Colin Baines’ John Deere tractor came loose and struck the former Colchester Council employee.

The trailer had safely carried more than 100 bales of hay that morning and had delivered a similar number on the previous day without any problem.

But Baines, of School Lane, in Great Wigborough, had not checked the locking pin was still in place since he coupled the trailer to the tractor about 48 hours before, saying he didn’t need to because “once it’s in, it’s in”.

The 67-year-old was only alerted to the problem when he was driving in Birch Road, Birch, on July 5, 2015, and the tragic incident unfolded.

He had denied causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty by a jury.

Judge Rupert Overbury told Baines: “I will adjourn sentencing to allow any further information that you wish to present to the court in mitigation.

“At present, I am not minded to ask for a pre-sentence report and you are in real jeopardy of an immediate prison sentence.

“I am warning you now, even in the lowest category of causing death by dangerous driving it is a starting point of three years and you will get no credit for a plea of guilty.

“At the moment, I can see no reason the sentence would not be immediate so you need to prepare yourself for that.”

Alan Wheetman, defending Baines, had told the jury of seven men and five woman the incident was “wholly tragic” and the incident had been caused by a “simple, honest mistake”.

He added: “By any stretch of the imagination, this is a wholly unusual accident – somewhat bizarre in what took place.

“I am not a gambling man but what would the odds be on the only vehicle travelling down a road on a quiet Sunday morning and a trailer becomes detached from the tractor and killing the only pedestrian in that street?

“It is odd – yet all these things came together on that tragic Sunday.”

Mr Wheetman added: “Sometimes mistakes are made and sometimes they go unnoticed and sometimes they have tragic consequences.

“I would suggest he is a careful and competent driver. He is careful because throughout all of those years, nothing like this has ever happened to him before.”

Mr Wheetman said when Baines had hitched his trailer to the tractor of the previous Friday or Saturday, he recalls hearing a “clonk”, which he identifies with the pin mechanism engaging.

He added: “This is where a mistake may have been made. He looked and he saw what he honestly believed to be the pin engaged in that hole.

“In his mind, that trailer was safe – where is the criticism there?

“It’s not until he’s coming down Birch Street with its undulations in the road that he is alerted.”

“It would seem, after hours and hours of detailed examination by experts, the only conclusion they can come to is that the pin wasn’t engaged as Colin Baines thought it was.

“There was nothing to alert Colin Baines that there was anything wrong with the way that trailer was fitted to the tractor.

“It is nothing more than a simple, honest mistake that any one of us could make at any time in our lives and in any circumstances.

“It is a human failing and a mistake which led to tragic consequences.

“A simple, honest mistake is not a guilty act. It should not turn somebody into a criminal.”

Baines will be sentenced next month.

'He should have made simple checks'

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Scott Egerton said: "There has never been any suggestion that Colin Baines drove in a dangerous way, but as the driver of a large agricultural vehicle and trailer he should have made simple checks which would have shown him that the tractor and trailer were not correctly joined. 

"By taking his tractor on the road in this dangerous condition, Colin Baines caused the death of Frank Fenning.

"Mr Baines has to live with the consequences of this for the rest of his life, but tragically so does Eileen Fenning, whose husband never came home that day.

"This case must serve as a warning to all who tow anything from their vehicle that you must check the safety of your vehicle before entering the road.”