An animal rights campaigner jailed for terrorising people linked to a laboratory has boasted how she has been given “vegan treats” in jail.

Sarah Whitehead has told how she has been provided with special toiletries that have not been tested on animals and given treats from the prison canteen.

Last week Whitehead, who was known by other members of the animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) as Mumsy, was sentenced for leading hate-filled attacks against companies with connections to the Huntingdon Life Sciences animal testing laboratory in Cambridgeshire.

Whitehead, 53, of Thorncroft Road, Littlehampton, who was described by police as a "corrupting influence" on younger members of the group, has already written a letter to her supporters from her cell at HMP Bronzefield in Middlesex.

Whitehead and five younger members of Shac waged a wide-ranging international conspiracy of intimidation against companies that supplied the lab.

The victims were subjected to realistic bomb hoaxes, criminal damage, threats of violence and abusive telephone calls.