Two firms involved in Oxford University’s animal testing laboratory withdrew from the project after an aggressive and threatening campaign by animal activists, a court heard today.
Oxford University Vice-Chancellor John Hood, speaking at the trial of animal rights activist Mel Broughton, told the jury that the then contractor Montpelier had suffered damage to “various assets of the company.” He said that members of animal rights group SPEAK were encouraged to carry out attacks and the company “felt they could no longer fulfil their obligations” as a result of the intimidation.
Broughton, who the prosecution say is the spokesperson for SPEAK, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court in connection with arson attacks to university property in 2006 and 2007.
He is charged on the two counts of conspiracy to commit arson and being in possession of an article with intent to destroy University property.
He denies both charges, relating to a fire that caused £13,000 worth of damage to Queen’s College sports pavilion in November 2006 and explosive devices discovered in the grounds of Templeton College in February 2007.
The head groundsman at Templeton College, told the court that he found the devices under an area of portacabins on the college site.
He had been informed earlier that morning by a colleague that a notice had been posted on the website Bite Back, run by the Animal Liberation Front, mentioning that an attack on the Oxford college was being planned.
He later discovered what seemed to be petrol bombs underneath the portacabins. He called the police, who summoned an army bomb disposal unit to secure the area.
The prosecution say that Broughton’s DNA was found on the incendiary devices planted in the 37 acre site and that sparklers used to construct the fuses of the device were found in the bathroom of his Northampton house.
The prosecution added that whilst they “respected his right to hold a firm opinion” on the matter of animal testing, they had “no respect for those who resort to terror and intimidation” to make their views known.
Broughton has a previous conviction for being in possession of an incendiary device to be planted in the name of animal rights.
