Yesterday, campaigners who took part in an Animal Rising Campaign targeting dairy giant Müller were sentenced to 260 hours community service and fined. This concludes the third of six trials at Worcester
Crown Court regarding a week of activity in 2022 that saw Müller’s Droitwich site blockaded by protestors.
Four campaigners received guilty verdicts and three were sentenced yesterday (19/02/25) after taking part in Animal Rising’s “Stop the Supply” campaign in September 2022 that blockaded Müller’s site in Droitwich [1] [2].
One defendant was found guilty of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and sentenced to 120 hours community service with £500 court costs, while the other three were convicted of having an article with intent to destroy or damage property. Of the three, one will be sentenced on 27th May, while one defendant received an £800 fine plus £200 court costs and victim surcharge, and the other was sentenced to 140 hours community service and £800 court costs plus a victim surcharge.
Their actions were part of a campaign that targeted dairy giants Müller, Arla, and Freshways dairy facilities, immobilising dairy trucks and leading to milk shortages across the nation [3] [4].
Campaigners cited the harmful impact of animal agriculture on the climate crisis, as well as the inhumane treatment of cows in the dairy industry as justification for their actions.
This is the third of six trials related to the events at Müller’s Droitwich site. Yesterday (18/02/25) two defendants from a previous trial were sentenced to a total of £3000 fines and 450 hours of community service, after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance.
Supporters took action in 2022 to highlight the dairy industry and animal agriculture’s contribution to the ongoing climate and ecological crises. They were advocating for a plant-based food system in order to create a kind and sustainable future for both human and animal life.
Josephine Stone, 23, one of those sentenced yesterday, said:
“Animal agriculture is a huge contributor to the emerging climate crisis. We took part in this peaceful campaign to draw attention to the environmental destruction and suffering of animals caused by this outdated, harmful system.
A transition to a plant-based food system would reduce Britain’s carbon footprint, freeing up swathes of farmland and allowing our struggling ecosystem to recover.”
A 2018 study from the University of Oxford revealed that 76% of global farmland could be freed-up by a transition to a plant-based food system [4]. This land could then be rewilded for mass carbon drawdown.
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
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Notes to the Editor:
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyv9jqj9wgo#:~:text=At%20Worcester%20Crown%20Court%20on%20Thursday%2C%20Ben%20Pattison%2C,guilty%20of%20intentionally%20or%20recklessly%20causing%20a%20public
[4] https://www.animalrising.org/post/update-arla-says-milk-shortages-in-supermarkets-are-inevitable