Animal rights activist sentenced to 6 and a half years

25/02/2005

The case of animal rights activist Sarah Gisborne, who was today sentenced to six and a half years in prison for conspiracy to cause £40,000 criminal damage to cars, demonstrated the close working between Cambridgeshire's Crown Prosecution Service and Police, said Chief Crown Prosecutor Richard Crowley.

Mr Crowley said: "This case is a good example of CPS and police co-operation, and involved detailed consultation before charge. It means that we get the correct charge from the start and the evidence is so strong that the defendant has little room to manoeuvre."

Peterborough Crown Court was told that b etween July 13 and 17, 2004, nearly £40,000 worth of damage was caused to eight cars parked at five homes in Surrey, Hampshire and Cambridgeshire. All attacks occurred at night.

The cars were damaged in a number of ways involving paint spraying, including graffiti; paint stripper pouring; the stabbing of tyres and the spraying of expanding foam into the exhaust pipe. One victim had ALF painted on her dining room window and VARE painted on her doorstep. Another victim had received a threatening letter during the day before the attack.

Ms Gisborne was traced through a car she had hired when the registration plate was recorded near to the scene of one of the attacks in Cambridgeshire. A police search of her home in Surrey found a list of employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences, including some e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers and postal addresses, hidden inside the leg of a TV stand in the lounge.

Mr Crowley said: "We also applied for an Anti-Social Behaviour Order which was granted by the judge and will run for two years from the date of her release from prison. This was partly our determination to ensure that persons working in the pharmaceuticals industry are afforded as much protection as the law and the courts will allow."

Notes to Editors

For further information contact the CPS Press Office on 020 7796 8180.