A BUSINESSMAN accused of grabbing hold of a helicopter as it tried to take off from outside his £1.2 million home swore to a jury that he never touched it.

Property developer Houshang Jafari, 58, said he was feeding his dogs outside the Dower House, Stoke Park, in March last year when he saw a helicopter coming towards him.

He told Bristol Crown Court that he saw the Jet Ranger chopper wobbling as it landed, after hitting a branch of a tree on its approach.

Jafari, who denies endangering the safety of an aircraft outside his home, said he approached the machine because he thought the pilot was in trouble.

Explaining why witnesses reported that he looked angry as he approached the chopper, the 140kg (22 stone) businessman said his high blood pressure results in him getting a red face and lips.

He said: "When I approached the helicopter I had four things in my mind. First, a lot of police helicopters go around that area on a Saturday night, I thought something might have happened in the field and wondered if we could help. I thought maybe the pilot had got into trouble or something was wrong with the helicopter.

"And lastly I thought Barratt Homes directors could have come to visit, because there was a development across the road."

On the morning of the incident, Jafari was in his garden feeding his dogs chicken bones from a plastic bag.

It is alleged that Jafari threw the plastic bag at the helicopter, kicked it and then attempted to hang onto the skid bar as it took off, because he was angry that it had landed near his property.

Jafari said: "Usually I speak with my hands. It's not that I am angry, this is part of me. I was trying to communicate.

"I was asking: 'What is going on? Do you need help? It was windy. I had the bag in my fingers, the wind has taken it because it wasn't a heavy bag.

"The pilot signalled to me to come and talk to him.

"I walked to the side of (the helicopter). I made no contact with it at all. The rotor blades are really going fast, there was a lot of wind. I took a full step back, lifted onto my tip-toes and I lifted both my hands up. I said, 'Where the hell are you going?'

"I made no contact with it in any way. I am a fat man, my foot doesn't come up – how can I kick it?"

Asked about the evidence given by neighbours and passengers in the helicopter that he had kicked and grabbed the helicopter, he said: "They are lying. They have a vengeance against me because of the history we have."

The court heard how Jafari owns a third of the green where the helicopter landed.

He told the jury that a civil dispute, in which a judge found in his favour, resulted in other residents having to contribute £50,000 in service charges for the property.

Since that dispute, he told the court: "I am not respected. They think I'm a bully. They think I like to take possessions off them. This is not a fact."

Keith Thomas, senior licensing inspector for the Civil Aviation Authority, told the court earlier in the day that the wind generated from the helicopter, would not have been strong enough to "blow a bag from an adult's hand".

Expert witness Mr Thomas told the court that the green at the Dower House was not an ideal landing space, but for someone with 400 to 500 hours' experience, as pilot Mark Blokland had, he had no concerns about its safety.

Mr Thomas said: "Throwing a plastic bag at an aircraft is extremely dangerous. It will not only alarm the pilot, but could cause catastrophic damage to the helicopter.

"It's unlikely a kick would do much damage. The risk of holding onto the skid bar is severe. It would cause a change in the control of the helicopter. The right skid would go down, which the pilot wouldn't expect. The helicopter could be damaged, people inside could be severely or even fatally injured, and someone on the ground would be injured or killed."

Helicopter passenger Simon Clarke said he feared for his life when Jafari come towards the machine "with his fists clenched and gritting his teeth" before throwing a plastic bag.

Mr Clarke said Jafari was "irate" and was shouting "Go away, go away!".

"He kicked out at the helicopter, at the nose, and he kicked out twice. He started shouting and walked round to the pilot's side door. Everyone was fearing what would happen next. My girlfriend was screaming 'Take off, take off!' The helicopter twisted to the right quite violently. That's when I really did fear for my life."

The case continues.