[Onthebarricades] Police state Britain - four years in jail for organising a protest!

[Andy]

NOTE:  Whatever metonymical slippage is introduced by the prosecutors, the facts of the matter are very clear: these people have been jailed for organising protests.  Basically these were peaceful protests, and are criminalised because of who they are against, where they are held and whether they have official permission.  In other words, it's basically the same as what happens in totalitarian societies - people protest for a cause and in a way the state doesn't like, and it jails them.

Jailing people for long terms, simply for taking part in a protest, is one of the defining features of a police state.

http://www.animalrights.net/archives/year/2007/000005.html

Three SHAC UK Animal Rights Extremists Jailed
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Three UK animal rights extremists received jail sentences ranging from 15 months to four years their part in an illegal campaign against companies that had business relationships with Huntingdon Life Sciences. 

Mark Taylor, 39; wife Suzanne, 35; and Teresa Portwine, 48, were the first to be charged under new UK laws designed to make it easier to crack down on animal rights extremists who skirted the law in their efforts to harass and intimidate animal research firms and nonprofits. 

All three plead guilty to conspiracy to interfere with a contractual relationship. Portwine was sentenced to just 15 months, Suzanne Taylor received 2 1/2 years, and Mark Taylor was sentenced to four years in jail. 

The judge in the case apparently took into account testimony from witnesses that Taylor had been a ring leader of the group's activities in handing out the sentence. Taylor participated in numerous protests and drove others to said protests where groups of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty activists wearing masks would storm into the offices of the targeted companies. 

Sources: 

3 animal rights extremists sentenced. D'arcy Doran, Associated Press, March 6, 2007. 

Animal rights activists are jailed for 'intimidation'. New Scotsman, March 6, 2007. 

Animal rights activist jailed. Press Association, March 6, 2007. 

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8NMT7IO0.htm

3 animal rights extremists sentenced
By D'ARCY DORAN

LONDON 

A British court sentenced three animal activists to prison terms ranging from 15 months to four years Tuesday for intimidating employees at companies who dealt with a firm that conducts animal experiments.

They were part of a group that invaded offices across the country belonging to companies that either supplied or dealt with Huntingdon Life Sciences in Cambridgeshire, shouting "murderers" at employees, London's Central Criminal Court heard.

They were the first animal rights activists to be prosecuted under new laws introduced to help Britain crack down on animal rights extremism, which analysts say could cost the country billions each year in lost investment. The three pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiring to interfere with a contractual relationship.

Mark Taylor, 39, who is unemployed, was sentenced to four years in prison. His wife, Suzanne, 35, a housewife, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years prison and Teresa Portwine, 48, a kitchen consultant, was jailed for 15 months.

The three were members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, or SHAC, which took photographs of workers and posted them on the Internet to intimidate them.

Over a three month period in 2005, Mark Taylor drove protesters -- including the two women -- around the country as they stormed the offices in groups of up to 12, terrifying workers. One company in northern England canceled its contracts with Huntingdon after it received threatening letters and was invaded by five demonstrators wearing skull masks.

"They used various degrees of intimidation, fright and, as a group, violence," prosecutor Edward Brown said.

Mark Taylor pleaded with the judge not to jail him. He apologized, saying he had not understood the consequences of his actions on innocent people. The three defendants embraced in the dock before being led to the cells.

Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, the Association of Chief Police Officers' coordinator for domestic extremism, said their actions "went well beyond what is lawful and acceptable."

British animal activists are among the world's most militant. Past tactics have included exhuming the remains of a guinea pig farmer's mother-in-law, planting explosives beneath cars and forcing the construction company building an Oxford lab to pull out by sending shareholders forged letters urging them to sell their shares.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=360902007

Animal rights activists are jailed for 'intimidation'
ACTIVIST Mark Taylor was jailed for a record four years yesterday for his part in a campaign of intimidation to stop companies dealing with a firm doing animal experiments. 

Mark Taylor drove protesters around the country to companies which either supplied or dealt with Huntingdon Life Sciences in Cambridgeshire. 

During the summer of 2005, workers were terrified as up to 12 protesters invaded their offices shouting "Murderers" and other insults, the Old Bailey heard. 

Taylor, 39, his wife Suzanne, 35, both of Henry Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and Teresa Portwine, 48, of Dunley Drive, New Addington, Surrey, were the first to be charged under new legislation. 

They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with a contractual relationship. Mrs Taylor was given two-and-a-half years in jail and Ms Portwine was sentenced to 15 months. The judge said the sentence must be a deterrent to others.
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