BRITAIN: Four British animal rights activists are facing lengthy jail sentences after they admitted in Nottingham Crown Court to taking part in a long-running terror campaign which culminated in the theft of a pensioner's body from her grave.
Kerry Whitburn, John Smith, John Ablewhite and Josephine Mayo were described as "determined and cold-blooded defenders of their perceived cause" by a judge for their part in a six-year crusade against a farm breeding guinea pigs.
The relentless campaign ended when the remains of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond - the mother-in-law of one of the brothers who owns the farm - were dug up and removed under cover of darkness.
Pressure was growing last night for the return of the pensioner's body.
The David Hall and Partners' Darley Oaks Farm, in Newchurch, Staffordshire was involved in breeding guinea pigs used in bio-medical research.
A friend of Ms Hammond, Elizabeth Smith, who lives near the graveyard in Yoxall, Staffordshire, where her body was dug up, described the shock the desecration had caused.
The 81-year-old said: "When the body was taken everyone here was so upset, it was terrible.
"Hopefully now we will be able to get her back and she can be returned to where she belongs."
Regular demonstrations were held outside Darley Oaks Farm in parallel with the hate campaign which was designed to force the site to close.
It was in October 2004, after bricks had been thrown through windows, cars paint-stripped, roads daubed with abusive graffiti, local pubs attacked and explosives let off at night, that activists proved they would stop at nothing to achieve their goal. The remains of Ms Hammond were dug up and removed at night.
The Hall family announced in August 2005 that it would cease breeding guinea pigs at the farm from January 2006 in the hope this would prompt grave robbers to return their relative's remains. However, her body has never been recovered.
Judge Michael Pert told Ablewhite, Smith and Whitburn to expect sentences of up to 12 years for their part in the blackmail plot when they are sentenced next month. The maximum sentence is 14 years. Prosecutors said they could not prove that Ablewhite, Whitburn, Smith and Mayo were directly responsible for the theft of the remains but could prove that they were all aware of it.
All four defendants will be sentenced during a two-day hearing before the same court on May 10th and 11th.