Otis Ferry cleared on keys grab

Shropshire pro-hunting campaigner Otis Ferry has been cleared of criminal damage after he snatched car keys from photographers he claimed were hounding actress Sienna Miller.

Miss Miller had told the trial she felt "hunted" by "frenzied" paparazzi pursuing her after last year's Bafta awards.

The Hollywood star feared the photographers wanted to follow her to her new home so they could hound her around the clock, West London Magistrates Court heard.

Mr Ferry, 25, of Eaton Mascott, near Shrewsbury, the joint master of the South Shropshire Hunt and the son of Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry, had denied two charges of criminal damage.

The photographers claimed it cost them almost £600 to replace the keys which were lost after Mr Ferry discarded them.

Mr Ferry told the court the photographers drove their cars like "dodgems" and only narrowly avoided crashing into his brother's Land Rover. Twice Mr Ferry got out at traffic lights and grabbed the key from the ignition of two of the photographers' cars.

District Judge David Simpson ruled his actions were "impetuous" but did not constitute criminal damage.