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11/04/2006
Animal rights protestors admit blackmail charges
Four animal rights protestors have pleaded guilty to blackmail charges in a case where the remains of a pensioner were stolen from her grave.
Kerry Whitburn, 36, from Birmingham; John Ablewhite, 36, from Manchester; and John Smith, 39, from Wolverhampton all admitted to conspiracy to blackmail David Hall and partners, who ran Darley Oaks Farm, at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.
Another protestor - Josephine Mayo, 38, from Birmingham - also pleaded guilty to the charge in court on Tuesday.
All four are due to be sentenced next month.
Darley Oaks Farm, in Newchurch, Staffordshire, bred guinea pigs for medical research and the owners and their staff were subject to a campaign of intimidation between 1999 and 2005.
The campaign included the desecration of the grave of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond, the mother-in-law of one of the firm's co-owners, in October 2004.
The farm has now reverted to traditional farming and ceased to breed guinea pigs but the remains of Mrs Hammond have still not been returned.
(KMcA)
Kerry Whitburn, 36, from Birmingham; John Ablewhite, 36, from Manchester; and John Smith, 39, from Wolverhampton all admitted to conspiracy to blackmail David Hall and partners, who ran Darley Oaks Farm, at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.
Another protestor - Josephine Mayo, 38, from Birmingham - also pleaded guilty to the charge in court on Tuesday.
All four are due to be sentenced next month.
Darley Oaks Farm, in Newchurch, Staffordshire, bred guinea pigs for medical research and the owners and their staff were subject to a campaign of intimidation between 1999 and 2005.
The campaign included the desecration of the grave of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond, the mother-in-law of one of the firm's co-owners, in October 2004.
The farm has now reverted to traditional farming and ceased to breed guinea pigs but the remains of Mrs Hammond have still not been returned.
(KMcA)
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Pensioner's remains reburied
The body of a pensioner whose remains were dug up and stolen by animal activists have finally been reburied. The body of Gladys Hammond was finally returned to her original grave at St Peter's Church in Yoxall, Staffordshire, where she was originally buried on May 28, 1997.
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