Dr. Frankenstein - 21.01.2009 18:44
Seven animal rights activists who tried to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences by blackmailing companies linked to the animal testing laboratory were jailed today for between four and 11 years.
The activists, considered key figures in the Animal Liberation Front, were sentenced at Winchester crown court for their parts in a six-year campaign involving hoax bombs and falsified allegations of child abuse.
The seven firms targeted supplied Huntingdon Life Sciences – one of the world's largest animal testing laboratories, which was founded in 1952. Their purpose was to force HLS to shut down.
Gerrah Selby, 20, Daniel Wadham, 21, Gavin Medd-Hall, 45, Heather Nicholson, 41, Gregg Avery, 45, and his wife, Natasha Avery, 39, and Daniel Amos, 22, were all members of an organisation called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac). The Averys and Nicholson were founding members of Shac and veteran activists.
They menaced adults and children at addresses in England and across Europe. Groups of extremists wearing masks would turn up at night with sirens, fireworks and klaxons.
They would daub slogans with paint on the victims' homes and cars. In some cases, families received hoax bombs, and many employees were targeted by campaigns falsely alleging they were paedophiles. The intimidation included the sending through the post of used sanitary towels said to be contaminated with HIV.
The activists plotted their campaign from their headquarters, a country cottage near Hook, in Hampshire. From the building – which police had bugged – they used encrypted emails, spreadsheets and coded messages to organise the blackmail of the companies and individuals.
The details of companies, including names and addresses of employees, were published on the Shac website. Details were removed when a firm gave in to the threats and cut all links with HLS.
Selby, Wadham, Medd-Hall and Nicholson were convicted last month. The Averys and Amos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail.
Sentencing all seven, Mr Justice Butterfield called the campaign "urban terrorism" and a "relentless, sustained and merciless persecution" that had made the victims' lives "a living hell".
The judge said he accepted that the seven had genuine deeply held beliefs that animal testing was wrong, and had the right to protest against it.
But he told the activists that companies "had the right to conduct vital biomedical research" and "the right to conduct lawful trading".
"I expect you will be seen by some as martyrs for a noble cause but that would be misplaced," he told all seven. "You are not going to prison for expressing your beliefs, you are going to prison because you have committed a serious criminal offence."
Nicholson, from Eversley, in Hampshire, received 11 years after she was convicted of conspiracy to blackmail at a trial last year. The Averys, also from Eversley, received nine years each because they pleaded guilty to the charge.
Medd-Hall, from Croydon, south London, who was convicted at the same trial as Nicholson, received eight years. Wadham, from Bromley, south-east London, was sentenced to five years after he was convicted last year.
Selby, from Chiswick, west London, who was convicted of the charge at the same trial as the others, received four years, and Amos, from Church Crookham, Hampshire, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail, received four years.
The judge also gave indefinite asbos to the Averys, Nicholson and Medd-Hall, banning them from travelling to the firms targeted in the campaign. The others received the same asbos but for the duration of five years.
Speaking after the case, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Robbins, from Kent police, who led the £4m inquiry involving five police forces, said: "I hope today's sentences provide some comfort and a sense of justice to the individuals and the families who suffered such sustained harassment.
"While rarely causing physical harm, these offenders thrived on the fear they created through threats and intimidation."
The science minister, Lord Drayson said: "Those involved in life-saving medical research make a huge contribution to society. They deserve our thanks, support and protection. The UK is a world leader in medical advances and the government is proud of the pioneering work of our scientists and researchers."
|
