Journalist branded on back

London - An investigative documentary-maker, who exposed extreme elements within the Animal Liberation Front, was kidnapped and…

London - An investigative documentary-maker, who exposed extreme elements within the Animal Liberation Front, was kidnapped and branded across the back with the letters "ALF", it emerged yesterday. Mr Graham Hall, who has exposed drug dealers and badger baiters in earlier films, faces plastic surgery after the attack scarred a large area of his back.

Channel 4, which screened Mr Hall's programme last year, confirmed he had been branded and offered him "every support". Mr Hall (43) filmed ALF members boasting about bomb-making and choosing sites for violent attacks, although police eventually decided to press no charges.

He said he had been kidnapped on October 26th, after arranging to meet a man who said he could expose a dog-fighting ring. Mr Hall told the Mail on Sunday that as soon as he met the contact he was attacked by a number of men and bundled into a van.