New Forest man fined over pony death in speed petition case

Oliver Heywood was fined by a judge at Southampton Magistrates' Court

A man has been fined £600 for killing a pony on a national park road which is notorious for animal deaths.

Oliver Heywood, 26, told Southampton Magistrates' Court the animal jumped on to the bonnet of his BMW X4.

However, the defendant, of Woodgreen, Hampshire, was convicted of driving carelessly on Roger Penny Way in the New Forest in August 2021.

The case sparked a petition for average speed cameras in the forest which has attracted more than 74,000 signatures.

Commoner Sarah Weston said she was grief-stricken by the loss of her pony

Heywood said he had his one-year-old daughter in the back of his car and was obeying the 40mph (64km/h) New Forest speed limit when he struck the pony at about 20:30 BST on 7 August.

He told the court: "Something must have spooked the horse. It jumped and landed on the front of my vehicle... then jumped off the vehicle and went to the side of the road."

The defendant said the pony jumped on to the bonnet of his BMW X4

District Judge Peter Greenfield said: "I'm not sure about the mechanics of how a pony would do that.

"Roger Penny Way clearly has a problem with horse deaths.

"He accepts he saw the pony some distance away. He should have slowed down. 40 is just too fast."

Four-year-old Juma was killed on the the B3078 Roger Penny Way

The judge imposed a six-month driving ban and ordered Heywood to pay £620 in court costs.

New Forest commoner Sarah Weston, who set up the camera petition, said she was "grief-stricken" by the loss of her four-year-old pony, named Juma.

In a victim statement read out in court, she said she was no longer letting her ponies roam freely because drivers were "playing Russian roulette" with forest animals.

Animal road deaths and injuries in the New Forest are at a 30-year low

A feasibility study of the potential to install speed cameras was announced in January 2022.

New Forest District Council, which is chairing a group of interested authorities, said Hampshire County Council might be ready to commission the study later this year.

Latest figures show the total number of animals killed, injured and destroyed following New Forest road accidents has fallen to a 30-year low, although the toll of 41 animals killed in 2022 includes 34 ponies.

The national park is one of the largest remaining areas of unenclosed land where commoners' cattle, ponies and donkeys roam throughout the open heath.