Littlehampton animal rights activist jailed

Sarah Whitehead, of Thorncroft Road, was also given a 10-year ASBO (anti-social behaviour order) at Winchester Crown Court today (Monday, October 25), after pleading guilty to conspiracy to blackmail at a earlier hearing.

During the course of a two-day sentencing hearing, the court was told that she was one of six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) who waged an international conspiracy of intimidation against companies supplying animal testing lab Huntington Life Sciences, in Cambridge, in a bid to force its closure.

Leaflets distributed near the homes of company directors proclaimed them to be convicted paedophiles, and some even received used tampons in the post, accompanied by notes saying that the blood was HIV positive.

All six were jailed for between six years and 15 months, apart from the youngest member of the group, Alfie Fitzpatrick, 21, who was given 12 months, suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community work.

* For the full story, see this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, on sale Thursday.