Three held in animal rights extremist raids (From The Argus)

Three held in animal rights extremist raids

11:11am Friday 18th January 2008 in News

Three people were arrested today in the latest stage of an operation targeting animal rights extremists.

Police officers raided two addresses this morning - one at Gosport in Hampshire, and at Littlehampton.

A 24-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were arrested at a house in Alver Road, Gosport, and are being questioned at a police station in Hampshire.

A 50-year-old woman was arrested at a house in Thorncroft Road, Littlehampton. She is being questioned at a police station in West Sussex.

The arrests are the latest phase of Operation Achilles - a crackdown on alleged offences by animal rights campaigners against Huntingdon Life Sciences, based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Last May police arrested 32 people after raids in Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Glasgow, Greater London, Merseyside, Worcestershire, Lancashire, Northumbria, Yorkshire, South Wales, Belgium and the Netherlands.

So far 16 people have been charged. All charges relate to the campaign group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).

Ten of this number have been charged with conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Two have been charged with blackmail and malicious communications.

Three have been charged with burglary and handling in relation to a stolen dog and one has been charged with theft from his employee in relation to documents he is alleged to have passed to SHAC.