Sentencing of animal activists

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Heather Nicholson, 41, from Eversley, in Hampshire, alongside Gerrah Selby, 20, from Chiswick, west London, Daniel Wadham, 21, of Bromley, south-east London, and Gavin Medd-Hall, 45, from Croydon, south London, orchestrated the campaign which ran between 2001 and 2007, Winchester Crown Court heard.

The maximum sentence for the offence is 14 years' imprisonment.

Three other people - Gregg Avery, Natasha Avery and Daniel Amos - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to blackmail at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, last month.

The hierarchy of the group - called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) - used a number of tactics: hoax bombs parcels; criminal damage; threatening telephone calls; and false claims that the managers of the companies were paedophiles; in a bid to force them to cut links with the animal testing company.

The aim was to target suppliers or any company with a secondary link with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), based in Cambridge.

An example of their intimidation included the sending of used sanitary towels in the post, saying they were contaminated with the Aids virus. In another example, roads outside the homes of company managers were daubed with words like "puppy killer".

The blackmail would only stop when managers put out a "capitulation statement" to Shac saying they would not supply HLS, which conducts animal testing for the pharmaceutical industry.

The defendants were also linked to criminal activity in Europe and America, targeting companies there.