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CPS Drops Grand National Protest Cases After Juries Refuse to Convict - And Campaigners Say New Government Trial Reform Will Harm Protest Rights

A breaking news story: after three successive failures to convict Animal Rising’s Grand National disruptors, the Crown Prosecution Service has today dropped a fourth upcoming Crown Court case, indicating a further two trials are also now likely to be dropped due to the low likelihood of a conviction.


Three juries have now refused to convict Grand National protestors who chose to be tried at the Crown Court for public nuisance, after taking action to protect horses’ lives at the world’s most famous race. 


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This development comes as the government moves to curtail the right to elect trial by jury - a change that campaigners say could deal a significant blow to protest rights in the UK. [1]


Animal Rising believes these trial outcomes also highlight the strength of public feeling when jurors are presented with evidence of the welfare and ethical issues inherent in racing horses for sport.


Key information:

  • Today (25/11/25) the Crown Prosecution Service declined to pursue an upcoming Grand National Crown Court trial and indicated a second trial - and the retrial of group whose case resulted in a hung jury last month - will not go ahead. [2]

  • A jury took just 51 minutes to find Grand National campaigners not guilty on 13/11/25 and campaigners were also found not guilty on 24/09/11. [3]

  • 118 people were arrested at Aintree in 2023 for attempting to access the racetrack and halt the Grand National race, opposing the frequent deaths of horses on the tracks and the use of horses as entertainment. The race was ultimately delayed by 15 minutes. [4]

  • Over 480 horses have been killed at racecourses in the UK since the 2023 Grand National protest [5].


With two acquittals and a hung jury, Animal Rising contends that these trials reflect a broader shift in public opinion against horse racing. The group views them as significant victories for all activists operating within an increasingly hostile climate for peaceful protest in the UK.


A key defence of the campaigners was “reasonable excuse”, a provision of public nuisance law. Defendants argued the suffering and deaths of horses within the racing industry constituted a valid reason to attempt to stop the race and draw attention to the plight of horses in UK racing.


Michelle Farnham, 27, from London, was one of the five found not guilty last week, and said:

“Peaceful protest is vital in any healthy society, and if protesters do end up in court, it’s crucial that juries remain part of that process.
And at a time when the Government is trying to curb the right to trial by jury, this really matters. Being judged by a jury of your peers is a cornerstone of our democracy, and our Grand National cases prove why it must be protected. 
Juries have now refused to convict us three times for trying to save horses. The public has spoken loud and clear: no one should be punished for peaceful protest, especially when they’re trying to prevent animal suffering.
Horses are still dying on British racecourses at a rate of one every other day. That’s not entertainment - it’s exploitation, pure and simple.”

According to a University of York study, over half of those under 40 would not consider attending horse races due to welfare issues. The same study stated that attendance declined by over 500,000 from 2015 to 2019. [6] A survey released earlier this year by World Horse Welfare found that only 5% of people in the UK believe that ‘all sport horses live good lives’ and only 11% support the use of spurs. [7]


ENDS


About Animal Rising

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, rescuing lambs belonging to King Charles II in May 2023, and carrying out the UK’s largest undercover farm investigation in 2024.


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Emma (Press Back Office)  +44 1225 29 6691


Notes to the Editor:



 
 
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