Ten supporters of Animal Rising were handed substantial fines today (31/7/24) at St Albans Crown Court after being found guilty of, or pleading guilty to, conspiring to cause criminal damage at the Hatfield site of Arla Foods [1].
The group received sentences totalling £45,675 compensation, 1,450 hours of community service, and suspended sentences totalling 137 months.
The actions were taken as part of Animal Rising’s (then Animal Rebellion) “Plant-Based Future” campaign in 2022, which aimed to disrupt the UK’s dairy industry and call on the British Government to commit to subsidising the transition to a safe and secure plant-based food system [2].
Earlier this month, five supporters of Just Stop Oil were sentenced to a combined 21 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to cause a public nuisance [3].
Today, supporters of Animal Rising have been spared immediate custodial sentences by Judge Lana Wood. The group had been charged with conspiracy to cause an alleged £581,000 of damage at Arla’s Hatfield distribution centre [4]. Five individuals were found guilty after trial, with a further eight entering guilty pleas beforehand.
Beau King-Houston, 45, self-employed, one of those sentenced today said:
“Whilst we are glad to avoid any immediate prison sentences today, it remains unignorable that we are in the midst of a climate emergency that continues to threaten countless lives across the globe. Animal farming and fishing are leading contributors to climate breakdown, deforestation, water pollution, and species extinction.
Our new Labour government has claimed to be the party for both animal welfare and the environment - now is the time to step up and show it. We are rapidly approaching climate tipping points and the need for action only increases.”
The hefty fines received by the individuals today follow the record-breaking sentencing of Just Stop Oil supporters who were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month, over planning civil resistance actions on the M25. Animal Rising has labelled those sentences “grotesque.”
Three additional defendants in this case will face sentencing at St Alban’s Crown Court for the same offence on Monday (5/8/24).
This month, the latest audit of the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) revealed that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating [5]. The biggest opportunity to improve the state of nature is to rapidly shift away from inefficient and harmful animal agriculture that displaces and threatens wildlife. In 2018, comprehensive research from the University of Oxford showed that 76% of the land currently used for food production would be freed-up by a global transition to plant-based production [6].
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
ENDS
Word count: 494
High-Quality Pictures and Videos: https://show.pics.io/animal-rising-breaking-news/
All images and videos in this file, on our social media, and website can be used with credit to Animal Rising under ‘fair use’ for the purposes of reporting.
For more information or further comments, please contact:
Nathan (Press Back Office) +44 1225 29 6691
Notes To The Editor:
[3] https://juststopoil.org/2024/07/18/whole-truth-five-sentenced-to-4-5-years-at-southwark-crown-court/