For the full background to this ongoing story, please read Sul Nowroz’s excellent coverage of the failed £4 million court proceedings against protesters, which took place in February this year.
The court hearing drilled down into the very real public concerns over animal abuse at MBR Acres Ltd, including the practice of bleeding puppies to death and selling their blood or organs for profit. MBR Acres is a Cambridgeshire dog-breeding company which supplies puppies to the animal-testing industry for controversial toxicology trials.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the serious allegations of harassment and intimidation made against protesters at Camp Beagle (Europe’s longest running animal protest camp, set up in 2021). He threw out the company’s attempt to outlaw protests at the facility, simply granting an injunction against physical trespass and unlawful obstruction, and fining a named individual just £90 for a small infringement of an interim ruling.
Since the judgment, the regular and now officially lawful protests have continued at the gates of MBR Acres, to remind staff and contractors that huge swathes of the public would be angry and disgusted if they knew about the treatment bestowed upon thousands of helpless trapped animals there each year.
But as reported recently by Real Media’s Sul Nowroz, Cambridgeshire police have found a new way to side-step the judge’s ruling, and silence legitimate protest at the site. They have served Community Protection Notices (CPNs) on four people identified as connected to the camp.
This appears to be a first use of CPNs to ban protest, although they have been in use against anti-social behaviour for more than a decade. They aren’t mentioned in the government’s own research briefing on police powers over protest dated December 2024, and there are no protest-related examples in a list of case studies of CPN abuse by public space campaigners The Manifesto Club.
What is clear though, is the extraordinary power they give police officers to infringe rights and control behaviour on the basis of opinion, accompanied by a poor and often inaccessible appeals process.
The powers were officially designed to combat persistent or continual anti-social behaviour such as excessive noise, harassment and intimidation. Council officials as well as police can issue them, and although they are meant to protect the communities, they have drawn criticism for their lack of legal and procedural protection.
In the case of Cambridge police and MBR, rather than protecting the quality of life of the local community, the notices appear designed to protect a very unpopular private company.
So last weekend, supporters of Camp Beagle took their protest to Cambridgeshire Police HQ in Huntingdon, calling for the Commissioner to rescind the orders and to cease their misuse against a protest legitimised by February’s court hearing.
No senior police made themselves available to speak with the protesters.
Solicitors have now instigated a formal appeal. This process itself is deeply unjust, because in the event the appeal fails, substantial police or council legal costs can be awarded against the appellant.
Campaigners and supporters intend to keep up the pressure on the police. More info at thecampbeagle.com
A Camp Beagle spokesperson commented:
“The police should be protecting the public, not acting as private security for a controversial business that profits from animal suffering. CPNs are meant for community safety, not to silence those standing up for ethical treatment of animals.”
All photos courtesy of Camp Beagle
