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2/12/09
Possible jail term for animal rights activist
An animal rights activist is facing a possible jail sentence after he was convicted of taking part in a raid on a Lincolnshire rabbit farm.
Lewis Pogson had denied he was among a group of protesters who forced their way into a shed at a farm in Normanby-by-Spital, near Market Rasen.But he was convicted at Lincoln Crown Court. Pogson denied taking part in the attack, claiming he was at his mother's home in Dulwich, south-east London, on the night of the incident. But after two days of deliberations a jury found the 23-year-old, of Little Bornes, Dulwich, guilty of four charges relating to the break-in.
Felicity Gerry, prosecuting, said the raid was intended to persuade farmer Jeffrey Douglas to stop trading with research firm Huntingdon Life Sciences. Pogson had links to a protest group that targets Huntingdon and its suppliers, and equipment used in the raid was found in his mother's garage. A shopping bag iscovered at the house also contained straw and hay, suggesting it might have been used to remove some of the rabbits.
Pogson was bailed until the New Year.