Unable to arrest the farmer's son on his own, the police officer was left with no choice but to call for backup

Dec 10, 2014 15:14 GMT  ·  By

As utterly ridiculous as this may sound, it appears that, earlier this year, a police officer in Scotland failed to arrest a suspect on his own and had to ask for backup to get the job done simply because he was too scared of a bunch of cows to be able to approach him.

The incident is understood to have occurred in the village of Thornhill in Scottish council area of Stirling on August 13. The details concerning this most peculiar arrest attempt were presented in a court of law this past Tuesday, December 9.

How a bunch of cows sabotaged a cop

Information shared with the public says that, on August 13, police officer David McTurk paid farmer David Lindsay a home visit and told him that he was there to arrest his son Ian. The officer arrived at the farm accompanied by just a colleague.

The thing is that, when the officer and his companion arrived at the farmer's house, David Lindsay and his two sons, Ian and Callum, were in the cowshed. Given his phobia of cows, the officer asked Ian to accompany him on his own accord.

Rather than do as instructed, Ian Lindsay chose to remain inside the cowshed together with this father and brother. Fearing the cows way too much to approach Ian Lindsay, handcuff him and bring him to the station with him, officer David McTurk asked for backup.

“I am told the police tried to explain in calm manner that they needed Mr Ian Lindsay to come with them, and PC McTurk told him he had a phobia of cows and didn't like being around cattle. Mr. Lindsay said he didn't like police,” said prosecutor Gail Russell, as cited by Mirror.

Once reinforcements arrived, the farmer's son was finally taken into custody. Seeing how they interfered with Ian's arrest, farmer David Lindsay and his other son, Callum, were taken to the local police station as well. The cows, however, got away with it.

The farmer was admonished for his actions

In court, 53-year-old farmer David Lindsay admitted to having resisted, obstructed, molested and hindered police officer David McTurk. However, the judge took pity on him and only admonished him. 20-year-old Callum Lindsay, on the other hand, was cleared of all charges.

“This was a somewhat ridiculous situation for someone of your age to get himself into. The police were trying to do their job,” Sheriff Celia Sanderson commented on the farmer's behavior.

As for officer David McTurk, we was only poked fun at. Thus, the farmer's defense lawyer pointed out that, given his 15-year career as a law enforcement officers in a rural part of Scotland, it was strange that David McTurk should be this terrified of cows.

Officers afraid of cows fails to arrest suspect (5 Images)

Cows keep police officer from arresting a suspect
The incident occured in Scotland earlier this yearThe officer is terribly afraid of cows
+2more