Gamekeeper Malcolm Hughes, who drove his Land Rover straight at a low-flying helicopter, has avoided jail today.

Hughes, 61, could have killed two pilots when he drove his vehicle at the Army Air Corps Squirrel helicopter.

Pilot Lt Andrew Higgins was seconds from dropping to just 5ft above the ground when his co-pilot spotted Hughes' Land Rover and disaster was averted.

Hughes, of Raffin Lane, had denied a single charge of acting in a manner likely to endanger aircraft, but was convicted in July after a three-day trial.

Today, at Swindon Crown Court, Hughes received a five-month prison sentence suspended for a year and was told to carry out 120 hours'unpaid work and pay £1,000 prosecution costs.

Passing sentence, Judge Douglas Field said Hughes had risked the lives of the pilot and trainee, as well as his own.

"I must stress the training exercise undertaken was completely lawful," the judge told Hughes.

"Having seen this helicopter you entered the field where it was situated in your Land Rover and you drove at the helicopter.

"I am quite satisfied you didn't drive at it with the intention of hitting the helicopter.

"I am prepared to accept your motive was to get its details so the flight could be properly reported."

Judge Field said it was fortunate the trainee pilot had spotted Hughes' Land Rover and raised the alarm.

"Tremendous damage would have been caused, putting the lives of the occupants of the helicopter and yourself at risk," the judge added.

Stewart Patterson, defending, said Hughes risked losing his shotgun and fire arms licences, which could affect his livelihood.

"He has accepted responsibility for his actions," the barrister said.

"The assumption was when he saw the aircraft rise it was on his way and instead it hovered there intending to return to the ground.

"It is a one-off occasion unlikely to be repeated because Mr Hughes is aware the unexpected can occur - and that lesson has been learnt."

Mr Patterson added: "He still has his livelihood but without a licence to shoot he cannot control vermin."

During the trial, jurors heard Hughes had driven underneath the helicopter.

Prosecutor Justin Gau said: "Had it not been spotted, it is quite clear the rotor of the helicopter would have been hit by the car and a fatal crash would have occurred."

Lt Higgins was teaching trainee pilot Bombardier Henry Luck low-flying manoeuvres over farmland at Wootton Rivers on December 9 2009.

The helicopter had taken off from the Middle Wallop airbase in Hampshire and flown towards Pewsey on a route used by the Army Air Corps every three months.

Lt Higgins said he was just about to descend to 5ft when Bmdr Luck raised the alarm.

"He suddenly said 'stop' at about 10ft as we started to descend," the officer said.

"As soon as he said stop I looked to the direction he was looking and about half a second later I saw a Land Rover driving underneath the helicopter.

"It moved forward towards the other side of the field and stopped, and the occupant gesticulated for us to depart."

Lt Higgins added: "It was a bit of shock at the time. However, he was vigorously moving his arm out of the window."

The pilot maintained that had he not take evasive action the helicopter would have struck the Land Rover.

"In the worst case the tail rotor would have hit the vehicle and it would have resulted in the vehicle crashing," he added.

After being arrested, Hughes told police he had never driven under the helicopter and the closest he had been was 300 metres (984ft) away.

He said he had driven towards the helicopter because he wanted to get close enough to take the aircraft's serial number and report it to the authorities for low flying - just as his employer had told him to do.

Hughes left court today without commenting.