Animal Rising Campaigners Acquitted Over Müller Dairy Blockades Following Landmark Public Nuisance Ruling
Updated: 5 days ago
Six Animal Rising campaigners have today (22/09/26) been formally acquitted of all remaining charges relating to blockades of dairy giant Müller during the group’s 2022 ‘Stop the Supply’ campaign. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against them after an Animal Rising Supreme Court victory earlier this year which clarified how public nuisance law applies to campaigners on private land.
The six had faced charges of public nuisance and conspiracy to commit criminal damage relating to actions at Müller’s Droitwich site on 6 and 8 September 2022.
The campaigners first stood trial at Worcester Crown Court in January 2025, but the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the charges that remained, and a retrial was scheduled for October 2026. [1]
The acquittals follow a landmark Supreme Court decision in July (14/07/26) involving another group of Animal Rising campaigners prosecuted over the same Müller blockades as part of the same campaign. [2]
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the CPS’s interpretation of the public nuisance offence, establishing an important precedent over how the law can be applied to actions at private sites.
One defendant who was found guilty of criminal damage in the 2015 trial today was given a 6-month conditional discharge.
The six defendants were among several groups of Animal Rising campaigners prosecuted following the September 2022 ‘Stop the Supply’ campaign, which saw hundreds of people take action against dairy companies including Müller and Arla. [3] Actions included blockades of dairy distribution sites, resulting in disruption to milk supplies across parts of England.[4]
The defendants first stood trial at Worcester Crown Court in January 2025. After a three-week trial, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the charges that remained, and a second trial was scheduled for October this year. One defendant subsequently pleaded guilty rather than face another trial, leaving six prepared to return to court.
Supreme Court decision
On 14 July 2026, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the acquittal of six other Animal Rising campaigners who had been prosecuted for public nuisance over the blockade of the same Müller site on 8 September 2022, as part of the same ‘Stop the Supply’ campaign.[2]
Rejecting an appeal by the CPS which would have overturned their acquittal, the Court ruled that people entering or leaving private business premises were not exercising a right enjoyed by the “public at large” for the purposes of the public nuisance offence under which the campaigners had been charged. The ruling upheld their acquittals and established an important precedent on the scope of public nuisance law.
It was confirmed in court today that the prosecution was left without a viable route to conviction on the remaining public nuisance charges. The CPS offered no evidence against the six defendants, who have today been formally acquitted of all remaining charges.
The outcome means that campaigners involved in the 2022 actions have not only successfully defended themselves against these prosecutions, but secured a Supreme Court judgment clarifying the limits of public nuisance law and its application to actions taking place at private sites.
Statement from Claudia Penna Rojas, Animal Rising Spokesperson:
“After four years, this case can finally be put to rest.
“These six defendants were ready to stand before a jury for a second time and explain exactly why they took action in 2022. The dairy industry separates newborn calves from their mothers, causing profound distress to both. Many of those calves are then killed. Meanwhile, the number of UK dairy farms where cows never go outside has more than doubled since 2015. This is an industry that causes immense suffering to animals while driving pollution, climate breakdown and environmental destruction. They believed taking action was proportionate to the scale of that harm.
“Today, they walk away with no case left to answer. But our food system still comes at an enormous cost to animals and the planet. We urgently need to build something better: a kinder, more sustainable food system.”
The ‘Stop the Supply’ campaign highlighted the dairy industry’s impact on animals, the climate and the environment. Actions against dairy distribution sites in September 2022 included lorry blockades and road disruptions and led to disruption to milk supplies in parts of England.
ENDS
About Animal Rising
Animal Rising is a nonviolent people-powered organisation working towards a kinder, more sustainable future for animals, people and the planet.
The group has used a variety of civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action tactics, notably blockading McDonald's distribution centres in May 2021, blockading dairy industry sites in September 2022, rescuing 23 beagle puppies from the animal testing industry in 2022, delaying the Grand National race in 2023, rescuing lambs belonging to King Charles III in May 2023, and carrying out the UK’s largest undercover farm investigation in 2024.
Also today, Animal Rising campaigner Michelle Farnham leaves Trafalgar Square after spending 21 consecutive days and nights confined inside a real pig farrowing crate, as part of Animal Rising’s campaign calling on the Government to end factory farming by 2040.
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Notes to Editors
[1] The remaining charges disposed of today were:
Public nuisance arising from actions on 6 September 2022
Public nuisance arising from actions on 8 September 2022
One count of conspiracy to commit criminal damage, 8 September 2022
[2] On 14 July 2026, the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal in R (Respondent) v McCafferty and others (Appellants) [2026] UKSC 20. The case concerned six Animal Rising campaigners prosecuted for public nuisance after blocking access to Müller UK’s Droitwich site on 8 September 2022.
