'Granarchist' vows not to stop protests
A veteran animal rights campaigner known as the 'granarchist' has vowed her latest conviction will not stop her.
Helen Nelson, 84, was found guilty last week of causing harassment and distress during a protest.
She was one of a group of campaigners who took part in a protest outside Torbay Farm in Sciviers Lane, Upham, in the Meon Valley, where there are plans to move Wickham Labs which carries out animal testing.
A district judge found Nelson guilty of harassing and distressing the family that live in the farmhouse on the site, one of whom is Louise Tewkesbury, the daughter of William Cartmell – owner of Wickham Labs.
Speaking after the case, Nelson, of Brune Lane, Gosport, who had denied harrassing anyone, said: 'I feel disappointed that the judge saw fit to find me guilty because all I did was take part in a peaceful demonstration.
'If there had been a problem the police should have told us, not dragged it out and brought it to court.
'But, if anything, the whole thing has made me even more determined to make sure the labs are not built at Torbay Farm now.'
During the two-day hearing before Portsmouth magistrates on Thursday and Friday, the court heard how the protesters held a candlelit vigil outside the farm, on November 26, 2007, during which they chanted slogans such as 'no more Wickham labs' and 'animal murderers'.
The Tewkesbury family said the protest caused them harassment and distress.
They said several of the protesters had knocked on their door and run off, and they could then see lights and hear shouting at the bottom of their driveway.
Nigel Tewkesbury said: 'It was all very distressing.'
Mrs Tewkesbury said: 'I find it very disruptive to my family life, and intrusive, and I feel angry that they target our family.'
Addressing Nelson, prosecutor James Kellam said: 'You've never considered what the people in Torbay Farm House think. You just want to make a noise about Wickham.
'You call it a vigil because you are trying to give a nice name to something nasty.'
District Judge Roger House gave Nelson a two-year conditional discharge and ordered her to pay 200 in costs.
Speaking of the protest, the judge told her: 'You should or ought to know that it would cause distress to these residents, Mrs Tewkesbury in particular.'
SEPARATE CASE
Helen Nelson faced another charge of harassment before Portsmouth magistrates last week, alongside her daughter Jeannette McClunan, 53, and son-in-law David McClunan, 55, from the Meon Valley.
The charge concerned an earlier and separate protest outside Torbay Farm, Upham, in the Meon Valley, on October 8, 2007.
The prosecution claimed Nelson and Mr and Mrs McClunan had caused Louise Tewkesbury, of Torbay Farm House, harassment, alarm and distress.
But as Mrs Tewkesbury was on holiday at the time, and it was her daughters and stepson who witnessed the protest, the judge said there was no case to answer.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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