Somebody's nervous, this story reeks of manufactured hysteria...
Police are hoping that a new law against economic sabotage to be introduced next month as part of the Serious Organised Crime and Disorder Act, will help them crack down on the campaign of firebombing. Extremists can be jailed for up to five years for inflicting economic damage on medical research companies.
Animal rights extremists in arson spree Sandra Laville and Duncan Campbell Saturday June 25, 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5224093-110650,00.html
Guardian Animal rights activists have unleashed a new arson campaign in the run-up to the introduction of a law next month which could see them jailed for five years for economic sabotage.
Extremists are returning to the tactics of several years ago, using firebombs to attack anyone they perceive as having links to Huntingdon Life Sciences, the Cambridgeshire-based research laboratory.
A senior figure within the Animal Liberation Front told the Guardian that activists would not rest until they had shut down HLS. Speaking from prison, Keith Mann, who promotes arson as the best form of attack, said the government's clampdown on protesters meant "all that is left to them is extremism".
In a telephone call from Winchester prison, where he is serving six months for contempt of court, Mann said the campaign against HLS was number one for activists.
"We believe when Huntingdon goes the industry will start to crumble."
But an increasingly indiscriminate campaign has recently hit those who have no links to HLS or animal testing. An incendiary device was placed under a car belonging to a truck driver and his wife in Leicestershire last week. The firebomb, which did not go off, was intended to target a solicitor who worked for the pharmaceutical giant Fisons. The lawyer had moved from the property 18 months earlier.
In another case, the finance director of a small brokers firm, Canaccord Capital, was in hiding yesterday after being firebombed by the ALF at his home in Bracknell, Berkshire.
Michael Kendall, his wife and two young daughters were asleep when the incendiary device exploded under his car, which was in the garage.
A neighbour said: "It was incredible. It was about 11.30 at night and suddenly there were flames coming out of the car. We heard the alarm go off and ran out to see what was going on. We saw Mr Kendall there, trying to put out the flames.
"Then a tyre exploded, making a huge banging noise. You could feel the heat coming off the fire and by then a small crowd of us watched."
The attack on May 26 was claimed by the ALF two days ago on a website posting which read: "A new era has dawned for those who fund the abusers and raise funds for them to murder animals with.
You too are on the hit list: you have been warned. If you support or raise funds for any company connected with Huntingdon Life Sciences we will track you down, come for you and destroy your property with fire."
Members of Shac, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, defended the action yesterday, saying the brokers had raised £10m for Phytopharm, which was a customer of HLS.
But directors at Canaccord were stunned by the attack on a family man who has no links to animal testing. They swiftly announced they would cut ties with Phytopharm.
A source in the firm said Mr Kendall was shocked to discover he was a target of extremists and was keeping a low profile.
Dr Richard Dixey, director of Phytopharm, which researches drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, told the Guardian the drugs company no longer had any connections with HLS.
"They say we are a major client at Huntingdon, but we have no studies at Huntingdon whatsoever any more," he said.
"I have never met Mr Kendall. He is a family man, with young kids. The whole thing is outrageous. "This is like dealing with the mafia. What are these people trying to achieve? What is the point of doing this? They have gone too far and they are morally bankrupt. The idea that you should stop medical research because of the objections of a small group of ill informed people is outrageous."
Police are hoping that a new law against economic sabotage to be introduced next month as part of the Serious Organised Crime and Disorder Act, will help them crack down on the campaign of firebombing. Extremists can be jailed for up to five years for inflicting economic damage on medical research companies.
"These are extremely serious crimes and are being investigated," said Superintendent Steve Pearl, head of the national extremism tactical coordination unit (Nectu).
In Newtown Linford, Leicestershire, Andy Johnson and his wife Carmel, who were targeted with a firebomb which failed to go off last week, appealed for the extremists to leave them alone. Mr Johnson, who returned home to find a home-made bomb in his car port, said he had also had car tyres slashed and ALF graffiti daubed over their garage. His "crime" was that he had bought his cottage 18 months ago from a lawyer who works for Fisons.
"It's nothing to do with us," he said. "We have no links with Fisons. The ALF has just seen the previous owner's name connected to our address.
"We want them to know we have nothing to do with animal testing and aren't the people they want." =30=
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