FORMER town councillor, Wisbech butcher and West Norfolk farmer Leonard Fulcher spared prison today after threatening to kill council workers in a Raoul Moat-style rampage.

Cambs Times: Leonard Fulcher at Norwich magistrates court.Photo: Bill SmithLeonard Fulcher at Norwich magistrates court.Photo: Bill Smith (Image: Archant)

Fulcher, a former Conservative councillor, made the threats to kill to his solicitors after losing patience with them during a six-year planning fight with Fenland District Council.

Cambs Times: Leonard Fulcher's piggery at Foul Anchor was demolished in August 2006.Leonard Fulcher's piggery at Foul Anchor was demolished in August 2006. (Image: Archant)

The 60-year-old was found guilty on March 13 of two charges of making the threats to kill and one charge of harassment following a trial at Norwich Magistrates’ Court.

Cambs Times: Leonard Fulcher, right, with John Bliss outside his butcher's.Leonard Fulcher, right, with John Bliss outside his butcher's. (Image: Archant)

His dispute with the council started six years ago when they burned down his pig barn in a planning dispute.

He then pursued the council for damages but felt his Fakenham solicitors, Hayes and Storr, were making little progress with his case.

On July 10 last year he made the comments to an employee of the firm threatening to kill council officers.

The threats were repeated over the phone to the same employee, Amanda Nudds on August 14.

At Norwich Magistrates’ Court today Fulcher was sentenced to 250 hours of unpaid work, despite a report from the probation service recommending prison.

Fulcher- a rare breeds farmer who bought Bliss Butchers in 2005 in Norfolk Street and ran it until it burnt down in January 2007- made the threats to his solicitors after losing patience with them during a six-year planning fight with Fenland District Council.

The farmer, of Ramblewood Farm, Pott Row, near King’s Lynn, had been attempting to take the council to court since August 2006 after they burned down a barn on his pig farm which the council said did not have planning permission.

Fulcher had a small three acre site at Foul Anchor for pig rearing but council chiefs fought and won an enforcement issue as to whether he was building a piggery or a house on the land.

The council took direct action, demolished it, and set alight the remains