A police officer who was attacked two years ago by a herd of cows has now been awarded over £10,000 compensation from the landowner in an out-of-court settlement for the ordeal he has suffered.

Inspector Chris Poole was walking his golden retriever Zak on the South Downs near Lewes when the 30-strong herd, agitated by the dog’s presence, began to move towards him. Although Zak was on a lead, the cows became increasingly upset and surrounded the officer and his dog.

At first, Inspector Poole tried to shoo the cows away, but when one heavily butted him in his back he fell and let go of Zak’s lead. Repeatedly butted and trampled on by the large animals he suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung.

It was only when the dog fled, distracting the cows, that he was able to escape into the neighbouring field. There, he was spotted by another dog-walker who called for a rescue helicopter to airlift him to hospital.

Once there however, Poole’s troubles were far from over. On the fourth day of his stay, he leaned out of his bed to talk to another patient and felt a sharp pain as a sliver of bone from one of his broken ribs severed an artery. He lost five pints of blood and had to undergo an operation to repair it, resulting in 45 staple stitches being clamped into his side.

The effects of these injuries have had a considerable impact on the health and fitness of the inspector, in both long and short term ways. Not only was he unable to work for five months after the accident, but even now, Chris cannot take regular exercise and still suffers residual pain from his broken ribs.

Poole began legal action on the grounds that not enough was done by the landowner to protect the footpath and its users from his herd, such as having a sign up notifying the public that cows were present and that they could be dangerous. Common law states that it is the farmer’s responsibility to provide adequate safety measures for those members of the public who are lawfully on their land.

However, the success of Poole’s claim comes a mere two weeks after 49 year old vet, Liz Crowsely, was killed when she too was trampled and crushed by cows whilst out walking her dog.

In this new atmosphere of awareness and publicity, farmer’s unions have warned walkers to be more careful when out on farming land, to keep as far away from cows as possible (especially if they are with calves or you have a dog), and suggest that if you feel threatened by cows at any point, you should carry on your walk at a normal pace, without running or panicking, exit the field as soon as possible and find another way around.