‘Now, the interesting thing is that Sophie’s dad was killed while protesting against forestry. A front-end loader fell on him and severed an artery in his leg. Sophie was reportedly very angry that he’d been killed while protesting, so I’m interested in knowing why she’s gravitated that way. Here’s a story from the Farming Telegraph, written by none other than Zara Ellison.’ He handed over a print-out of the story.

Gerard Hooper was today found guilty of the manslaughter of Colin Grawd. Mr Grawd was killed while trespassing and attempting to disable a front-end loader so it was unable to be used in logging.

Evidence was given that Grawd was under the bucket when it fell on him, pinning him to the ground and severing an artery, causing him to bleed to death at the scene.

It was stated that Gerard Hooper had been disabling the machine at the time in question; however, the Farming Telegraph has received information indicating Hooper might not have been responsible for the bucket falling and that it’s believed there was another person involved.

Hooper continues to deny this.

Both men were members of Voices for Animals and had taken part in a small, peaceful protest prior to the accident. A spokesman for the group said it defied belief that the government would allow logging to take place in a pristine area that is the habitat of a diverse range of animals.

In a statement by his lawyer it was made clear Hooper would continue to fight for his innocence: ‘Of course we’ll appeal. Gerard Hooper is innocent of the manslaughter of Colin Grawd. They were friends and colleagues. In a democracy, everyone has a right to voice their opinion, so the trespassing charge is ridiculous. We intend to fight this.’

Colin Grawd’s daughter, Sophie, made an emotional statement in response to Hooper’s lawyer: ‘The fact remains that I come home every day to a house that my dad isn’t in anymore, so my mum gets into an empty bed every night. I don’t care how or why or what happened that night. All I know is that Gerard was in the driver’s seat when that bucket dropped on my dad, and now my dad’s not here. He’s in the ground.’

‘She sounds like an angry young woman,’ Dave commented. ‘I’d better have a chat with her before I let them go. Now, Lee has just told me about an interesting development. Allegedly there was a report made to VFA about two properties with stock in poor condition. They were sent up to take footage—that’s the whole reason they’re here.’ He went on to tell Jack as much as he knew. ‘We’ll have to find some way of verifying that. Can I leave that with you?’

‘Sure. I’ll get on it.’