At the recent planning meeting for next years animal rights gatherings that took place at the One in Twelve Club in Bradford, several activists got together to discuss Luke Steele.
To her neighbours in Littlehampton, Sarah Whitehead was a pleasant, if slightly dotty, former nurse. While surrounding homes in the West Sussex town were well-kept, the 52-year-old let her garden become overgrown — providing private sanctuary, she said, for all manner of unwanted pets, from guinea pigs to rescued dogs.
By day, the dark-haired woman was often seen out walking her dogs with a younger, blonde companion — her lesbian partner. By night, she was heard talking to her assorted animals in the garden.
‘She was always polite and would nod hello,’ says one neighbour. ‘We knew she kept loads of creatures in her back garden, but she really did try to keep herself to herself. She was a bit odd — but no odder than half the folk you meet.’
To add to the impression she gave of being a harmless, quintessentially English eccentric, she was also known by the nickname ‘Mumsy’ to her wide circle of young friends, who visited from around the country.
But all this was a cynical, well-rehearsed sham. For there was nothing remotely maternal about Sarah ‘Mumsy’ Whitehead.
From her home, where she used sophisticated computer technology to plan attacks, Whitehead was one of the key figures behind a shadowy group of animal rights fanatics who waged a campaign of terror against anyone connected — however tenuously — to any forms of testing on animals.
In a network that stretched from southern England to Europe and the U.S., Whitehead was part of an alliance of extremists who dug up human remains, smeared enemies as paedophiles and even targeted couriers and caterers supplying Home Office-licensed laboratories.
This weekend, as Whitehead begins a six-year jail sentence for the campaign of terror (and she is already complaining to prison officers about being made to wear leather shoes) the full details of her double life can be revealed for the first time.
Whitehead’s capture — along with the jailing of former tailor Greg Avery, another leading activist — has provided an unprecedented insight into the secret world of these fanatics, who for years have evaded arrest by operating in ‘cells’ and undergoing extensive training in how to avoid police surveillance.
‘They studied the structures of the IRA and also held regular training sessions at safe houses, where they were told how to spot undercover officers and ensure they weren’t being followed,’ says Andy Robins, the dog-loving detective who arrested Mumsy and her followers after a five-year undercover operation, codenamed Achilles.
‘Sarah Whitehead was a corrupting influence on younger members,’ adds Robins. ‘She was a mother figure to some of the others, hence the nickname. But she was also utterly committed to her cause.’
Jailed alongside Whitehead were other, younger members of the gang: Nicole Vosper, 22, Thomas Harris, 27, Jason Mullan, 32, and Nicola Tapping, 29. Alfie Fitzpatrick, a public schoolboy aged just 17 when he was recruited, was given a suspended sentence.
All the youngsters worked alongside Whitehead in Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), a seemingly respectable pressure group formed in 1999. SHAC volunteers even became a feature of the British High Street, where Whitehead and her fellow volunteers collected funds and tried to recruit new members.
Up and down the country, volunteers also distributed shocking pictures (later found, in fact, to include material from illegal labs in the Middle East) of alleged cruelty at Huntingdon Life Sciences, the subject of SHAC’s increasingly aggressive campaign.
Employing 16,000 people, Huntingdon is the largest private company involved in testing medicines and chemicals on animals, with its global headquarters in Cambridgeshire. The company says that its research breakthroughs have saved and enhanced the lives of countless human beings.
Publicly, Whitehead and other members of the group preached non-violent protests against Huntingdon. But privately, they were secretly plotting ‘operations’ — including fire-bombings and acid attacks — on all aspects of its business, with the aim of forcing it to close down.
The strategy was straightforward: any businesses with any connection to Huntingdon, including even sandwich delivery men and cleaning firms, were warned in telephone calls to sever all ties.
If the warnings went unheeded, anonymous letters were sent to the neighbours of these ordinary businessmen and women, warning that they were convicted paedophiles and could pose a threat to children.
Mud stuck. Some Huntingdon employees were forced to leave their homes. In what amounted to blackmail, the targets were offered a deal: stop working with Huntingdon and your name will be removed from websites and the attacks will stop. Facing ruin, many local businesses did just that.
The violence worked. SHAC was raising £3,000 a week in street donations alone, meaning Mumsy Whitehead and leaders of the group could be full-time activists.
Huntingdon was in meltdown, with staff leaving and suppliers refusing to deliver. The share price collapsed — from £300 in the 1990s to 3p in 2001.
Five animal rights activists have been jailed for intimidating staff at firms linked to a Cambridgeshire animal testing laboratory.
Thomas Harris, 27, admitted conspiracy to blackmail representatives and those associated with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) with menaces.
Nicola Tapping, 29, Jason Mullen, 32, and Alfie Fitzpatrick, 20, admitted intimidating firms with HLS contracts.
Nicole Vosper, 22, and Sarah Whitehead, 53, had admitted a conspiracy charge.
Harris and Tapping are from Gosport in Hampshire while Jason Mullen is from London and Fitzpatrick from Solihull in the West Midlands.
'Threats of violence'Vosper is from Newquay and Whitehead is from Littlehampton.
The six waged an international campaign of intimidation against a host of companies to try to force the closure of HLS.
Homes of staff from the supply firms were targeted with abusive telephone calls and criminal damage and threats of violence were also used to force companies to cut links with HLS.
The BBC - telling it as it is
More are caged today !
SHACWATCH salutes NETCU - they have completed their mission and crushed SHAC -
Well done NETCU - a job well done.
Well done Lincolnshire Police - ensuring the right to lawful protest by cracking down on those who abuse it!If anybody has any information that could lead to the arrest of these disgusting animal abusers Shacwatch urges you to contact the police.
SHAC - torturing rabbits to death.
Mel Fails for the third and final time and is slammed back in the pokey!
Meanwhile a couple of SHAC types in Yorkshire are still trying to keep the money coming with yet ever more new groups. The latest is 'Stop Animal Experiments in Sheffield' They tried their best to get a few hundred together for a march at the weekend and at one stage were talking about " 4 to 500 on the streets" in the end about 50 pathetic individuals had a slow slog through the streets to the general indifference of locals.
As is now well recognised these marches are far more about recruiting the next generation of money providers and grooming the young for 'actions'.
The march was a failure
The group is a failure
SHAC is a failure
Changing names doesn't change the failure
As widely predicted the sick joke - The Animal Protection Party polled less than the Monster Raving Loony party! As they collapsed they wasted £2,000 donated by innocent fools who thought they were helping animals.
"Dear Luke,
Would you please stop making these one-man-campaign announcements? You're seriously alienating the rest of the AR community in Yorkshire by going off on your own like this.... you could become a liability..... We all know that SAEAB is your personal vanity project so please will you start putting the animals before your own ego? "
Other Yorkshire area people knowing full well Luke's links to the Far Right have kept their distance from this unpleasant individual. Having had experience of Luke's offers to "look after the money" in the past a number of former SHAC people in the region are wisely keeping Luke well away from donations received.
No longer are people fooled by SHAC attempts to 'rebrand' and keep the cash flowing under a new name.
Of course many within SHAC still want to know who out of Cain and Luke Steele it was who gave info to the police in return for a lesser sentence last year. Care to share that with us Luke ?
New name - same old failure
Jon Ablewhite, 39 and from Wolverhampton, was caged for 12 years in 2006 for a sickening six year hate campaign against a family and their guinea pig farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire.
The bald-headed vicar’s son admitted trying to blackmail farmer David Hall in a sustained attack that eventually led to his gang of fanatics digging up the body of Gladys Hammond, whose son-in-law co-owned the farm.
Currently being held at HMP Ranby in Nottinghamshire, the grave robber has now set up an online profile for his one man band, and has even posted pictures of himself posing with young women on prison visits.
The fanatic has also dismissed his incarceration in prison as like being “in my beautiful home from home”.
On his Myspace social networking webpage – which Ablewhite says is updated by his “wonderful friends” – he goes by his stage name of Vegandia, and encourages other animal rights supporters to get in touch.
“I’m currently serving a 12 year prison sentence for animal rights activism,” he tells his online pals.
“The reason for this Myspace page is to create a place where I can connect with other like-minded people.
“I would love to hear your thoughts on my music – in fact, I’d just love to hear from you.
“I am always into meeting new people so if anyone wants to come and visit me in my beautiful home from home, just drop me a line at the prison and get your ass down here.”
The crook has posted two tuneless tracks on the site entitled Angelface: How could you? and Political Animals.
Cunning Ablewhite is even looking to make a profit out of his musical offerings, urging friends on his Myspace page to “donate” money in exchange for copies of his CD.
Along with his songs, the thug has included some of his prison poetry, and a blog about life behind bars for his 147 online supporters to read.
Posting a comment on the site one user calling themselves VegFreak writes: “From me and everyone else, thanks for all the work you did. You are one of the innocent people in jail and hope you get out soon. xxxx”
Another friend said: “You are a wonderful person and, though locked away, there’s people out there who do think of you and all the other wonderful brave people who risk life and limb for others and defenseless animals.”
The body of 82 year-old Mrs Hammond was snatched from her burial plot at St Peter’s churchyard in Yoxall, Staffs, by Ablewhite and his cronies in October 2004.
The former teacher turned blackmailer was caught when police examined an e-mail account Ablewhite had set up using a computer at Wolverhampton City Library in May 2005.
Liaising with the FBI, detectives used counter-terrorism powers to explore the account, where they found he had provided a list of tips for other activists encouraging them to take part in an “ongoing Holocaust” against the Hall family and their farm.
Three other members of Ablewhite’s Save The Newchurch Guinea Pigs (SNGP) group – convicted thugs John Smith, 43, from Leicester, Kerry Whitburn, 39, from Birmingham and 40-year-old Josephine Mayo – were also jailed in 2006 for violence, threats and conspiracy to blackmail the Hall family.
Mrs Hammond’s body was found on Cannock Chase shortly after the trial, and has been reinterred in Yoxall churchyard.
I am not anonymous, as I'm not Coward like you guys that are talking about other people's personnal lives, saying nothing but cruel lies and trying, yes, trying because you can't, to put someone down .
I am a shame to my species. I attach all my contact details please send me your views...
Rita Silva
Subject: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "L SAWYER"
Date: Fri, November 19, 2010
To:
I know that we quite rightly don't disuss this shitty site but they have now printed an email from sulis from May. Thought you should all know.
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Subject: Re: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "maz"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
shit how the fuck did they get that???????????????
MAZ
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Subject: RE: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "k Blackshaw"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
The police are well aware of the existence of Sulis. I know that Gavin Medd-Hall’s computer was taken by them and postings from Sulis was found on it. I presume the same for Mel. Anyway, we have always been told that we should bear in mind when posting anything that it will be monitored by the powers that be.
Personally, I have been concerned for some time that occasionally people have been nominated for the List by members who do not really know them all that well. Perhaps the criteria for nomination should be tightened?
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November 23, 2010 1:53 PM
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Subject: Re: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "Steve"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
I see three possibilities.
(1) A member of Shacwatch is on the Sulis (not very likely, if this were the case I think Shacwatch would not be able to resist putting more from the list on their website).
(2) A member of the Sulis has felt so disgruntled that they have passed the email on to Shacwatch.
(3) The police monitor the Sulis and passed the email on (not likely as surely the police would not risk letting it being known they monitor the list).
Of course I could be wrong on all counts. I am sure people who have more expertise in online security will have other answers.
Steve
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Subject: RE: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "L SAWYER"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
Another explaination. The police are involved in shacwatch themselves. We know that they post on Indy and just look at the language used in the Fitwatch post why would vivisectors care about students getting arrested or not? I am convinced that the police are involved as either individuals doing something that will get them into deep shit or doing it with the blessing of high ranking officers to which purpose I know not, I just know that I cannot proove who or what is involved
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November 23, 2010 1:54 PM
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Subject: RE: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "Jo Jo"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
Shouldn't we just assume that despite security measures there are undercover coppers on this list anyway, or at the very least they read all the emails?? Not that it really matters, as there is nothing illegal about the list or anything anyone is saying on it, as I'm sure everyone is aware. Although, maybe something to bear in mind when airing disputes?
Jo
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Subject: Re: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "Luke Steele"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
No offense to anybody, but why are we even discussing this waste of time.
SHACWatch is a complete joke, we should not even be giving them our attention and diverting away from the subject which is the animals we are trying to save. It is clearly run by the police, as lots of evidence suggests, so it is no wonder they have access to our emails.
People are only as oppressed as we allow ourselves to be, and the AR movement is far from oppressed at the moment. We see people doing what we as a movement have always done and, even if it were illegal, the police don't have the resources to deal with the movement's growth over the past several months and return to actions such as run ins, sit down protests, lock-ons, rooftop occupations etc and the latest trial is nothing short of an embarrassment and joke.
Would movements of the past have cared if the police had made a sneery comment about them, or taken a photo? I doubt it, so we should not be distracted from our real objectives and aims by these sad acts.
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November 23, 2010 1:56 PM
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Subject: Re: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "L SAWYER"
Date: Sat, November 20, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
Sorry Luke I disagree. People needed to know this so I posted it just press delete if you think it is a waste of time that's what I do for all sorts of things.Many activists are unaware of how the police are conducting themselves so I think we will just have to agree to differ on this one . Personally I wanted to ensure that people on this list were fully aware that what is put on here is not only watched by the cops but has now for the first time been posted in the public domain. Of course if everyone knew about it anyway and I have stopped people from going on demos and actions with this then of course I apologise but doubt very much that imparting this information has stopped anyone doing stuff.
I will make my own decisions about whether or not I feel reopressed by the state and right now I am not ashamed to admit that I am as are those who do not attend demos or do anything because they are frightened, it is an issue which is seen as a signifiant problem and whilst your courage and energy is astounding there are not many activists of your calibre. Indulge those of us who do wish to discuss repression and work ways around it with a little tolerance please although you are right in that it should not distract us. SW is something that in itself should not be bothered with other than something to have a laugh at normally but in this instance someone has published a private email and one from May at that, not everyone reads SW or is even aware of it so I fail to see why passing this on so that we can be a bit more careful is a major issue.
Anyway rant over I will shut up now and I love you really Luke.
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November 23, 2010 1:59 PM
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Subject: Re: [Sulis] shacwatch
From: "Paul"
Date: Sun, November 21, 2010
To: sulis@lists.rbgi.net
I would recommend people not visit this site as they may have something
on it to identify your IP address. Looks like it does have Google
Analytics on it, which I think tells them who has visited.
other possibilities:
* someone has a weak password for their webmail and someone hacked into it
* someone sent a virus to someone on the list and now has a backdoor in
their computer
* someone forwarded on a sulis email to someone not on the list, who
forwarded it to other people, who forwarded it to other people, etc.