Millionaire shot boy, 16, at mansion after feeling ‘frightened’ by urban explorers
A millionaire who shot a teenager at his £30 million country estate claimed he was “frightened” at the time by online explorers wanting to access his underwater ballroom.
Gary Steele is being sued for £3 million after shooting Tom Frearson, who was 16 at the time of the incident in 2019.
He said that he shot Mr Frearson “accidentally” while feeling “isolated and afraid” after his estate was targeted by an online campaign challenging people to break into a number of eccentric historic follies on the grounds.
Among those included an “underwater ballroom”, a glass-domed room accessible via a tunnel submerged beneath one of the man-made estates on the grounds, surmounted by a floating statue, according to documents submitted to London’s High Court.
Mr Frearson, now 21, said he “feared for his life” after Steele, the boss of a successful broadband internet company, shot him from over a wall at his 1,300-acre Witley Estate, near Godalming, Surrey, in July 2019.
He was rushed to hospital having had his back, hand, arm and buttock shot with pellets from a 20-gauge Beretta shotgun licenced to Steele’s partner, Amanda Karn, rather than Steele himself.
‘Deliberate or reckless’
Mr Frearson was claiming roughly £2.9 million in compensation, plus interest, for the injuries he suffered. He claimed that Steele was “deliberate or reckless” in firing the gun and causing him injuries which he said has left him struggling to find employment and needing lifelong care and assistance.
He was also claiming roughly £1 million for lost future earnings and another £1.1 million for future care and assistance.
He said that his intended career path as a mechanic, as well as his ability to care for himself, was blighted because he cannot grip properly with his injured left hand.
He added that he was left traumatised and with scarring, and faces up to 50 more operations to dig the shot out of his body.
Steele was found guilty of possession of a shotgun without a licence, having been acquitted of attempted murder, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding by a jury at Guildford Crown Court in October 2019.
The businessman, who reportedly sold the Witley Estate in 2019 for £30 million and now lives at the £12 million Roundhurst Farm, Lurgashall, Surrey, was sentenced to 15 months’ prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay a total of £11,140 in fines and costs. He was also told to forfeit the shotgun and ammunition.
Victim ran into path of ‘warning shot’
Steele claimed that his actions were neither deliberate nor reckless, adding that Mr Frearson ran into the path of a “warning shot” he had fired to scare him off while feeling “vulnerable”.
In papers submitted to the High Court, Laura Johnson, his barrister, said: “Due to its follies, in particular the underground ballroom and the ‘Ice House’, the estate attracted trespassers looking to explore the grounds.
“Although some of these individuals left when requested, the defendant and his partner also encountered incidents of criminal damage, antisocial behaviour and theft.”
She added: “One of the follies, the Ice House, was repeatedly targeted as a destination for parties and illegal raves. The Boat House was also targeted by people breaking in, stealing – and eventually sinking – the defendant’s boat and seeking to gain access to the Underwater Ballroom or the Ice House.
“On occasion, intruders even brought their own watercraft to use on the lake to gain access to the follies.”
The submissions in the documents submitted to the court have yet to be tested in evidence before a judge.
