A VETERAN farmer has "learnt his lesson" after his cow clambered through a 5,000-volt fence, wandered on to the neighbouring A12 and was struck dead.
Derek Kelly, 84, who owns 80 cattle, believes the Aberdeen Angus was trying to "get back to its mates" when it broke out of fields at Crix in Hatfield Peverel on Thursday (September 25).
The previous evening Derek moved the cow, which was three weeks from the slaughter, from its Cock Clarks home to graze on the thick grassy grounds of the Grade-II listed Georgian mansion.
"I don't know exactly how or why it broke out but my theory is it did so because I moved three cattle from one herd to another the previous evening," said Derek, also the founder of award-winning Danbury-based enterprise Kelly Turkeys.
"I think he was trying to get away from the field and back to his mates. We have had cattle there for eight years and this is the first time one has managed to get out.
"I won't move or separate them from their mates again like I did on this occasion. Instead I will take the whole herd together as I have always done."
The cow, one of 10 in the field at Crix that night, was struck by a silver Vauxhall Astra on the southbound carriageway at about 3.30am.
It was left badly damaged, but while the male driver escaped uninjured, he is making an insurance claim.
'Horrified'
The driver of a VW van received minor injuries to his hand and face and was treated by ambulance staff at the scene.
The Highways Agency closed off a lane causing traffic to queue back to Kelvedon during rush hour.
It was not until about 7.15am that Ian Twinley, owner of Crix, called Derek after finding the cow in the central reservation.
"I just felt horrified when I found out," said Derek, who has farmed beef as a hobby since passing the turkey business to his son Paul.
"Not for the cattle but over the implications for the people in the cars. That's the amazing thing, that no one was seriously hurt, that was the big worry."
Within 30 minutes Ian and a friend carried the cow with a fork lift truck and flatbed lorry back to Crix, while Derek donned a hi-vis jacket and stopped traffic on the A12 and B1137.
"It was a slick operation," he said.
"But I was quite surprised that we hadn't been notified by the police, quite surprised by that."
The two-year-old cow was worth £1,000.
"But that's irrelevant," said Derek.
"I'm retired and this is a hobby. I go round to them all, and while I wouldn't say they are my pets, I know them all individually.
"Of course it's sad, very much so."
