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Not Guilty: Unanimous Verdict for Grand National Protestors

Updated: Sep 25

Six Animal Rising campaigners have unanimously been found not guilty of public nuisance at Liverpool Crown Court today (24/9/25) after protesting at the 2023 Grand National; [1] this was the first of a series of five Grand National trials, the second of which is due to begin on Monday (29/09/25).

Three defendants from the trial, including Sarah McCaffrey (centre)
Three defendants from the trial, including Sarah McCaffrey (centre)

  • Approximately 118 people were arrested in total at the 2023 Grand National 15/4/25. [2]

  • The protest was part of a series of Animal Rising actions that year against sports that use and kill animals, which also saw protests at the Scottish Grand National, Doncaster Racecourse, the Epsom Derby, and the English Greyhound Derby.

  • This is the first of five Grand National Crown Court cases, with 23 additional Animal Rising campaigners awaiting trial for public nuisance.

  • 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.

  • An additional nine campaigners, including the co-directors of Animal Rising, entered their pleas at Liverpool Crown Court last week (15/09/25), [3] having been accused of conspiracy to commit public nuisance for their actions around the 2023 event. Eight of the accused pleaded not guilty.


A Crown Court trial for six Grand National protestors accused of public nuisance has resulted in unanimous not-guilty verdicts today (24/9/25). Hundreds of campaigners took part in Animal Rising’s campaign to stop the 2023 Grand National to protect horses from harm and death, as well as to generate a public discussion on the exploitation of animals in sport and more widely. 


The verdict today shows that 12 randomly selected members of the public all agree that disrupting a horse race to try and prevent the horses from coming to harm is not a crime. Animal Rising’s stance is that normalising the use, injuring, and killing of horses and dogs for sport symbolises our broken relationship with other animals. 


Less than a week ago, Flying Finn became the latest victim of the horse racing industry as she was killed at Ayr racecourse aged just four. [4]


Sarah McCaffrey, 22, from Glasgow, was one of the six found not guilty today and said:

“The verdict today shows that the general public supports the protection of horses. Over 450 horses have been killed at the races since we tried to halt the Grand National. Lisa Nandy urgently needs to ban horse racing completely and end this bloodshed.”
“As a nation of animal lovers, we recognise horses as intelligent, beautiful and complex individuals. Yet, they are treated as objects to profit from, exploit and then discard when they have served their purpose. Racing’s focus is profit rather than the lives of horses, as demonstrated earlier this month when the industry lobbied to ‘axe the racing tax’.”

“It’s vital that peaceful, legitimate protest against suffering and injustice is permitted in the UK. The misuse of public nuisance laws to crack down on peaceful protests doesn’t work when the jury is permitted to hear the whole truth.”

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

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Emma (Press Back Office)  +44 1225 29 6691


Notes to the Editor:


 
 
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