£45,000 worth of fines overturned for animal rights activists who protested at Towcester Racecourse
Three animal rights activists, who were fined £15,000 each after a protest at Towcester Racecourse, have had their fines overturned.
Edward Allnutt, aged 33, Sasha Joliffe, aged 46, and 21-year-old Joseph Moss had their fines overturned at Northampton Crown Court on Friday (August 2), after an appeal.
The three were previously sentenced at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on April 12 this year after being found guilty of obstructing/disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity.
Magistrates initially ordered each of the defendants to pay £15,000 in compensation, alongside their sentences. However, a crown court judge has now overturned this.
Allnutt said after the appeal hearing: "We walked out of court in April with our heads held high, knowing we did the right thing by shining a spotlight on this cruel and outdated so-called ‘sport.’ The majority of people know dog racing is wrong, and would never expose their family dog to this extreme level of risk and harm.
“We are glad that the judge today agreed that the previous sentencing was excessive and overturned our £15,000 compensation orders. They agreed that the compensation could only be for harms arising from any protest itself, and that the previous judge had no power to charge us with the broader costs of policing the protest and venue security. What we saw was a chilling attempt to quash protest and dissent via people’s finances.
“It hurts to think about the number of dogs that will have been injured and killed since we protested over a year ago. I look forward to when animal racing will be consigned to the dustbin of history alongside such unacceptable ‘sports’ as bear baiting and dog fighting."
Northampton Magistrates Court heard how the defendants, who were all linked to the Animal Rising protest group, had attempted to disrupt the English Greyhound Derby – the premier UK greyhound racing event – on July 1 last year. The protestors broke into the race circuit and attempted to storm the track. The protest group says no disruption was caused.
The group says the action was taken as part of Animal Rising’s 2023 summer of actions to “shine a spotlight on our broken relationship with animals and nature”. They claim greyhound racing is a “perfect example of this broken relationship, where ‘man’s best friend’ is put in harm’s way in the name of entertainment and money-making”.
Allnutt, Moss and Joliffe were each sentenced to nine weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. All were ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, complete 20 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement and pay £850 in costs. They are also subject to a restraining order not to enter or attend any sporting activity involving greyhound racing anywhere in the UK.
Allnutt was also charged with going equipped to lock on, which is believed to be the first conviction of this charge in the country. According to the College of Policing, going equipped to lock on is where an “individual attaches themselves to others, objects or buildings to cause serious disruption”. He did not receive a separate sentence for the charge.