Bull shot dead after Groombridge farmer is suspected of being trampled to death by his own cattle

A Groombridge farmer is believed to have been trampled to death by his own Aberdeen Angus cattle.

The body of Stephen Sandys, of Pinstraw Farm in Eridge Road, was found on Friday night in a field with the herd after he failed to return from feeding them.

Neighbour Brett Walker told BBC South East Today that the 64 year old ‘looked after his cattle as though they were his own children’.

A nine-year-old bull raised on the farm that was reportedly ‘stamping and snorting’ was shot dead by police.

A Sussex police spokesperson said: “”The death is not being treated as suspicious. It is believed he may have been trampled to death. The incident has been passed to the coroner’s office.”