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{{short description|British landscape gardener|bot=PearBOT 5}}
'''Mel Broughton''' (born 5 July 1960) is a British landscape gardener who has risen to public prominence as one of the UK's most notable [[animal rights]] advocates. He was the co-founder in 2004, with Robert Cogswell, of [[SPEAK campaign|SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals]], a campaign to stop [[animal testing]] in Britain, which is focused on opposition to a new animal laboratory at [[Oxford University]].<ref>Dear, Paula. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3713970.stm Anatomy of an animal rights protest], BBC News, 5 October 2004.</ref>
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{For|the American politician|J. Melville Broughton}}


'''Mel Brown'''<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-08-31|title=Beagle breeding protesters arrested in Cambridgeshire|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-58342810|access-date=2021-10-12}}</ref> (born '''Mel Broughton'''; 5 July 1960) is a British landscape gardener and [[animal rights activist]] who rose to public prominence due to a planned bombing campaign aimed at preventing the construction of a new research laboratory at Oxford University.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Rachel|date=2008-10-28|title=Animal rights activist 'planned bombing campaign' against Oxford University|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/28/animalwelfare-oxforduniversity|access-date=2021-10-12}}</ref> He was the co-founder in 2004, with Robert Cogswell, of [[SPEAK campaign|SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals]], a campaign to stop [[animal testing]] in Britain, which is focused on opposition to a new animal laboratory at [[Oxford University]].<ref>Dear, Paula. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3713970.stm Anatomy of an animal rights protest], BBC News, 5 October 2004.</ref>
Broughton was jailed for two years and eight months in 1999 after police found a firebomb in his car, which he said was intended to destroy [[animal transporter]]s to stop the [[live export]] of animals from the UK to the European continent.<ref name=MailNov3>[http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1082732/Police-planned-dirty-war-animal-rights-activist-accused-terror-campaign-court-told.html Police planned 'dirty war' against animal rights activist accused of terror campaign, court told], ''The Daily Mail'', 3 November 2008.</ref> He was arrested again and remanded in custody in December 2007 after the [[Animal Liberation Front]] planted incendiary devices in Oxford University colleges. A jury cleared him of possessing explosive substances, but [[hung jury|failed to reach a verdict]] on other charges. Following his retrial in 2009 he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit [[arson]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7885687.stm BBC - Animal rights fire-bomber jailed]</ref> However, in March 2010 Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned, arguing that the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8585409.stm Animal rights activist's fire-bomb conviction quashed], ''[[BBC News]]'', March 24th 2010.</ref> He was later granted bail with "stringent conditions" and was re-tried in June/July 2010.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8595257.stm Animal activist denies Oxford University fire-bomb plot], ''[[BBC News]]'', March 30th 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/5893034.Bail_for_animal_rights_campaigner/ Bail. for animal rights campaigner], ''[[Oxford Mail]]'', March 30th 2010.</ref>

On the 13th of July 2010 Broughton was once again found guilty and returned to prison to complete the balance of his sentence.
Broughton was sentenced to four years in 1998 after police found a firebomb in his car.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10511642|title=Animal rights campaigner denies university bombing plot|date=5 July 2010|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He was arrested again and remanded in custody in December 2007 after the [[Animal Liberation Front]] planted incendiary devices in Oxford University colleges. A jury cleared him of possessing explosive substances, but [[hung jury|failed to reach a verdict]] on other charges. Following his retrial in 2009 he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit arson.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7885687.stm|title=Animal rights fire-bomber jailed|date=13 February 2009|publisher=|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> However, in March 2010 Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned, arguing that the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8585409.stm Animal rights activist's fire-bomb conviction quashed], ''[[BBC News]]'', 24 March 2010.</ref> He was later granted bail with "stringent conditions" and was re-tried in June/July 2010.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8595257.stm Animal activist denies Oxford University fire-bomb plot], ''[[BBC News]]'', 30 March 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/5893034.Bail_for_animal_rights_campaigner/ Bail. for animal rights campaigner], ''[[Oxford Mail]]'', 30 March 2010.</ref>
On 13 July 2010 Broughton was once again found guilty and returned to prison to complete the balance of his sentence.

On his release, he continued his campaigns, and in September 2020 was seriously injured when trampled by a horse while protesting a Northamptonshire hunt.<ref>https://harboroughfm.co.uk/huntsman-jailed-after-animal-rights-activist-seriously-injured/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
Line 12: Line 19:
He lives in Northampton with Bella, a rescue dog, devoting most of his time to SPEAK. He told ''The Independent on Sunday'':
He lives in Northampton with Bella, a rescue dog, devoting most of his time to SPEAK. He told ''The Independent on Sunday'':


<blockquote>This was always my life, but now it takes up so much of my life that it's very difficult. In fact survival is very, very hard. My flat's nothing special &mdash; two rooms &mdash; and I live as frugally as I possibly can to make sure I can campaign. I'm not trying to make myself out to be a martyr because this is my choice.<ref name=Hall/></blockquote>
<blockquote>This was always my life, but now it takes up so much of my life that it's very difficult. In fact survival is very, very hard. My flat's nothing special two rooms and I live as frugally as I possibly can to make sure I can campaign. I'm not trying to make myself out to be a martyr because this is my choice.<ref name=Hall/></blockquote>


===Rocky the dolphin===
===Rocky the dolphin===
[[Image:BarryHorne-with-Rocky1.jpg|right|frame]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:BarryHorne-with-Rocky1.jpg|right|frame]] -->
[[Image:BarryHorne-with-Rocky2.jpg|right|frame|[[Barry Horne]] and another engage Rocky during secret visits to the dolphinarium, just before Broughton and Horne tried to move Rocky to the sea.]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:BarryHorne-with-Rocky2.jpg|right|frame|[[Barry Horne (activist)|Barry Horne]] and another engage Rocky during secret visits to the dolphinarium, just before Broughton and Horne tried to move Rocky to the sea.]] -->
Broughton was first arrested in 1988, when he and three other activists, including [[Barry Horne]] &mdash; who died in 2001 during an animal-rights hunger strike &mdash; tried to remove Rocky, a [[bottlenose dolphin]], from a small concrete pool inside Marineland, in [[Morecambe]], [[Lancashire]]. Rocky had been in the pool, mostly alone, for 17 years, after being captured off the coast of Florida in 1971.
Broughton was first arrested in 1988, when he and three other activists, including [[Barry Horne (activist)|Barry Horne]] who died in 2001 during an animal-rights hunger strike tried to remove Rocky, a [[bottlenose dolphin]], from a small concrete pool inside Marineland, in [[Morecambe]], Lancashire. Rocky had been in the pool, mostly alone, for 17 years, after being captured off the coast of Florida in 1971.


Broughton and the others intended to move the dolphin, who weighed 650&nbsp;lbs, 200 yards from the pool to the sea, using a ladder, a net, a home-made dolphin stretcher, and a hired Mini Metro.<ref>[http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2001/11/8/649628.html "Animal rights man dies on hunger strike"], ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', 8 November 2001.</ref><ref name=Arkangel>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030212174035/http://arkangelweb.org/barry/barry.shtml "Barry's life"], ''Arkangel'', undated.</ref> On the night of the action, they realized the logistics of the operation were beyond them, and decided to abandon their plans, but were arrested when the police found them with the dolphin stretcher in the back of the car. Broughton, Horne, Jim O'Donnell, and Jim Buckner were fined £500, while Broughton and Horne were also given six-month suspended sentences.<ref name=Mann165>[[Keith Mann|Mann, Keith]]. ''From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement'', Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 165.</ref>
Broughton and the others intended to move the dolphin, who weighed 650&nbsp;lbs, 200 yards from the pool to the sea, using a ladder, a net, a home-made dolphin stretcher, and a hired Mini Metro.<ref>[http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2001/11/8/649628.html "Animal rights man dies on hunger strike"]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', 8 November 2001.</ref><ref name=Arkangel>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030212174035/http://arkangelweb.org/barry/barry.shtml "Barry's life"], ''Arkangel'', undated.</ref> On the night of the action, they realised the logistics of the operation were beyond them, and decided to abandon their plans, but were arrested when the police found them with the dolphin stretcher in the back of the car. Broughton, Horne, Jim O'Donnell, and Jim Buckner were fined £500, while Broughton and Horne were also given six-month suspended sentences.<ref name=Mann165>[[Keith Mann|Mann, Keith]]. ''From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement'', Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 165.</ref>


The management of Marineland eventually agreed to give Rocky to campaigners in response to Broughton and others picketing the facility, money that the activists raised with the help of the Born Free Foundation and the ''Mail on Sunday''. In 1991, Rocky was transferred to a lagoon reserve in the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]], then released.<ref name=Mann167>[[Keith Mann|Mann, Keith]]. ''From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement'', Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 167.</ref> Peter Hughes of the [[University of Sunderland]] cites the campaign as an example of how promoting an animal rights perspective created a [[paradigm shift]] toward seeing dolphins as individuals, as a result of which, he writes, there are now no captive dolphins in the UK.<ref name=Hughes>Hughes, Peter. "Animals, values and tourism structural shifts in UK dolphin tourism provision," ''Tourism Management'', Volume 22, Issue 4, August 2001, pp. 321-329.</ref>
The management of Marineland eventually agreed to give Rocky to campaigners in response to Broughton and others picketing the facility. In 1991, Rocky was transferred to a lagoon reserve in the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]], then released.<ref name=Mann167>[[Keith Mann|Mann, Keith]]. ''From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement'', Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 167.</ref> Peter Hughes of the [[University of Sunderland]] cites the campaign as an example of how promoting an animal rights perspective created a [[paradigm shift]] toward seeing dolphins as individuals, as a result of which, he wrote, there are now no captive dolphins in the UK.<ref name=Hughes>Hughes, Peter. "Animals, values and tourism structural shifts in UK dolphin tourism provision," ''Tourism Management'', Volume 22, Issue 4, August 2001, pp. 321–329.</ref>


===1999 possession and conspiracy charges===
===1999 possession and conspiracy charges===
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In July 2003, Broughton and Robert Cogswell set up a campaign to halt construction of a new non-human primate research facility at [[Cambridge University]], the plans for which suggested it would be Europe's largest primate vivisection centre. The ''Stop Primate Experiments at Cambridge'' (SPEAC) campaign succeeded in persuading the university to abandon its plans in January 2004.<ref>[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2003-04/weekly/5949/4.html Primate Research Facility at 307 Huntingdon Road: Notice], ''Cambridge University Reporter'', 28 January 2004.</ref>
In July 2003, Broughton and Robert Cogswell set up a campaign to halt construction of a new non-human primate research facility at [[Cambridge University]], the plans for which suggested it would be Europe's largest primate vivisection centre. The ''Stop Primate Experiments at Cambridge'' (SPEAC) campaign succeeded in persuading the university to abandon its plans in January 2004.<ref>[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2003-04/weekly/5949/4.html Primate Research Facility at 307 Huntingdon Road: Notice], ''Cambridge University Reporter'', 28 January 2004.</ref>


Shortly thereafter, SPEAC learned that [[Oxford University]] planned to build a new animal research laboratory, including a non-human primate lab, in the university's science area. The activists said that talks between Oxford and Cambridge had resulted in Oxford agreeing to conduct the brain experiments that were lost with the abandonment of Cambridge's plans.<ref>[http://speakcampaigns.org.uk/primatelab.php The New Primate Laboratory], SPEAK, retrieved 21 July 2006.</ref> SPEAC became ''SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals'', relaunching itself as a campaign to halt all animal testing in the UK, with its second target the new Oxford lab, which opened in November 2008.<ref name=SampleNov2008>Sample, Ian. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/nov/11/animal-research-oxford-university Oxford University opens controversial animal research laboratory], ''The Guardian'', 11 November 2008.</ref>
Shortly thereafter, SPEAC learned that [[Oxford University]] planned to build a new animal research laboratory, including a non-human primate lab, in the university's science area. The activists said that talks between Oxford and Cambridge had resulted in Oxford agreeing to conduct the brain experiments that were lost with the abandonment of Cambridge's plans.<ref>[http://speakcampaigns.org.uk/primatelab.php The New Primate Laboratory] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201151235/http://speakcampaigns.org.uk/primatelab.php |date=1 December 2005 }}, SPEAK, retrieved 21 July 2006.</ref> SPEAC became ''SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals'', relaunching itself as a campaign to halt all animal testing in the UK, with its second target the new Oxford lab, which opened in November 2008.<ref name=SampleNov2008>Sample, Ian. [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/nov/11/animal-research-oxford-university Oxford University opens controversial animal research laboratory], ''The Guardian'', 11 November 2008.</ref>


===2009 conviction for conspiracy to commit arson===
===2009 conviction for conspiracy to commit arson===
In connection with his role in the SPEAK campaign, Broughton was charged in December 2007 with conspiracy to blackmail and possession of incendiary devices after fire broke out inside a sports pavilion belonging to [[Queen's College, Oxford]] in November 2006, and two petrol bombs were found inside the university's [[Templeton College, Oxford|Templeton College]] in February 2007.<ref>Wilkinson, Matt. [http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1904871.speak_campaigner_charged_with_arson/ SPEAK campaigner charged with arson], ''Oxford Mail'', 14 December 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.netcu.org.uk/media/article.jsp?id=320 Animal rights activist charged in connection with attacks on Oxford University], NETCU, 14 December 2007.</ref> The [[Animal Liberation Front]] claimed responsibility for the attacks.<ref>Wilkinson, Matt. [http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/Activist%20Tips/MelBroughton.htm Mel Broughton Faces Charges], ''Oxford Mail'', reproduced on the ALF website.</ref><ref name=BowcottNov6>Bowcott, Owen. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/06/ukcrime-oxforduniversity Animal rights activist cleared of possessing explosive substance], ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2008.</ref>
In connection with his role in the SPEAK campaign, Broughton was charged in December 2007 with conspiracy to blackmail and possession of incendiary devices after fire broke out inside a sports pavilion belonging to [[Queen's College, Oxford]] in November 2006, and two petrol bombs were found inside the university's [[Templeton College, Oxford|Templeton College]] in February 2007.<ref>Wilkinson, Matt. [http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/1904871.speak_campaigner_charged_with_arson/ SPEAK campaigner charged with arson], ''Oxford Mail'', 14 December 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.netcu.org.uk/media/article.jsp?id=320 Animal rights activist charged in connection with attacks on Oxford University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519074317/http://www.netcu.org.uk/media/article.jsp?id=320 |date=19 May 2008 }}, NETCU, 14 December 2007.</ref> The [[Animal Liberation Front]] claimed responsibility for the attacks.<ref>Wilkinson, Matt. [http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/Activist%20Tips/MelBroughton.htm Mel Broughton Faces Charges], ''Oxford Mail'', reproduced on the ALF website.</ref><ref name=BowcottNov6>Bowcott, Owen. [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/nov/06/ukcrime-oxforduniversity Animal rights activist cleared of possessing explosive substance], ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2008.</ref>


Police arrested Broughton after finding a university employee's security pass and a notebook containing a list of targets for "direct action" under a carpet, and [[sparkler]]s and a battery connector in an unused water tank at his house. The prosecution alleged that Broughton's DNA matched a sample found on the fuse on one of the petrol bombs.<ref name=trial/>
Police arrested Broughton after finding a university employee's security pass and a notebook containing a list of targets for "direct action" under a carpet, and [[sparkler]]s and a battery connector in an unused water tank at his house. The prosecution alleged that Broughton's DNA matched a sample found on the fuse on one of the petrol bombs.<ref name=trial/>
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Transcripts were submitted to the court during Broughton's trial of a recording in which Oxford police discussed a "dirty war" against Broughton, and how they were going to "get him." Broughton told the court that he was under constant police surveillance.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7707326.stm Police "war" against bomb accused], BBC News, 4 November 2008.</ref>
Transcripts were submitted to the court during Broughton's trial of a recording in which Oxford police discussed a "dirty war" against Broughton, and how they were going to "get him." Broughton told the court that he was under constant police surveillance.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7707326.stm Police "war" against bomb accused], BBC News, 4 November 2008.</ref>


The jury was discharged in November 2008 after clearing Broughton of keeping an explosive substance with intent, but failing to reach verdicts on the other charges. Broughton was remanded in custody until his retrial in February 2009, whereupon he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and sentenced to ten years by the Oxford Crown Court. Judge Patrick Eccles QC accused Broughton of being part of a "ruthless conspiracy" against the Oxford Biomedical Facility.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7885687.stm]</ref>
The jury was discharged in November 2008 after clearing Broughton of keeping an explosive substance with intent, but failing to reach verdicts on the other charges. Broughton was remanded in custody until his retrial in February 2009, whereupon he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and sentenced to ten years by [[Oxford Crown Court]]. Judge Patrick Eccles QC accused Broughton of being part of a "ruthless conspiracy" against the Oxford Biomedical Facility.<ref name="auto"/>


In March 2010, Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned due to the 'unsafe' way in which the trial judge summed up the conviction, with Broughton arguing the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/> He was later granted bail on "stringent conditions" that he does not engage in animal rights activities and enter Oxfordshire. He was re-tried in June 2010.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>[http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/5893034.Bail_for_animal_rights_campaigner/ Bail for animal rights campaigner], ''[[Oxford Mail]]'', March 30th 2010.</ref> On July 13, 2010 he was found guilty at the retrial, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
In March 2010, Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned due to the 'unsafe' way in which the trial judge summed up the conviction, with Broughton arguing the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/> He was later granted bail on "stringent conditions" that he does not engage in animal rights activities and enter Oxfordshire. He was re-tried in June 2010.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>[http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/5893034.Bail_for_animal_rights_campaigner/ Bail for animal rights campaigner], ''[[Oxford Mail]]'', 30 March 2010.</ref> On 13 July 2010 he was found guilty at the retrial, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jul/13/animal-rights-activist-mel-broughton-jailed|title=Judge jails animal rights arsonist Mel Broughton for 10 years|author=Press Association|date=July 13, 2010|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of animal rights advocates]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


== External links ==
{{Animal rights|state=uncollapsed}}
* {{IMDb name|5943767}}

{{Animal rights|state=uncollapsed|advocates}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Broughton, Mel
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 5 July 1960
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Mel}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Mel}}
[[Category:Animal Liberation Front]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Animal Liberation Front]]
[[Category:British animal rights activists]]
[[Category:British gardeners]]
[[Category:English criminals]]
[[Category:English criminals]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales]]
[[Category:Animal rights advocates]]
[[Category:1960 births]]

Latest revision as of 14:58, 28 August 2024

Mel Brown[1] (born Mel Broughton; 5 July 1960) is a British landscape gardener and animal rights activist who rose to public prominence due to a planned bombing campaign aimed at preventing the construction of a new research laboratory at Oxford University.[2] He was the co-founder in 2004, with Robert Cogswell, of SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals, a campaign to stop animal testing in Britain, which is focused on opposition to a new animal laboratory at Oxford University.[3]

Broughton was sentenced to four years in 1998 after police found a firebomb in his car.[4] He was arrested again and remanded in custody in December 2007 after the Animal Liberation Front planted incendiary devices in Oxford University colleges. A jury cleared him of possessing explosive substances, but failed to reach a verdict on other charges. Following his retrial in 2009 he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit arson.[5] However, in March 2010 Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned, arguing that the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.[6] He was later granted bail with "stringent conditions" and was re-tried in June/July 2010.[7][8] On 13 July 2010 Broughton was once again found guilty and returned to prison to complete the balance of his sentence.

On his release, he continued his campaigns, and in September 2020 was seriously injured when trampled by a horse while protesting a Northamptonshire hunt.[9]

Early life

[edit]

Broughton's father is a former painter and decorator and his mother, Pauline, a care assistant in an old people's home. Both are committed animal rights advocates who work alongside Broughton on the SPEAK campaign.[10] His mother, 70 years old at the time, was injured in September 2004 when a construction worker at Oxford University threw a white burning substance at her during an animal rights demonstration.[11]

Activism

[edit]

Broughton has been involved in animal rights for over 30 years. He worked on Operation Osprey in Scotland when he was 15, living in a tent to guard osprey nests. He later worked in animal sanctuaries, and campaigned against zoos, circuses, factory farming, and live animal exports.[10]

He lives in Northampton with Bella, a rescue dog, devoting most of his time to SPEAK. He told The Independent on Sunday:

This was always my life, but now it takes up so much of my life that it's very difficult. In fact survival is very, very hard. My flat's nothing special – two rooms – and I live as frugally as I possibly can to make sure I can campaign. I'm not trying to make myself out to be a martyr because this is my choice.[10]

Rocky the dolphin

[edit]

Broughton was first arrested in 1988, when he and three other activists, including Barry Horne – who died in 2001 during an animal-rights hunger strike – tried to remove Rocky, a bottlenose dolphin, from a small concrete pool inside Marineland, in Morecambe, Lancashire. Rocky had been in the pool, mostly alone, for 17 years, after being captured off the coast of Florida in 1971.

Broughton and the others intended to move the dolphin, who weighed 650 lbs, 200 yards from the pool to the sea, using a ladder, a net, a home-made dolphin stretcher, and a hired Mini Metro.[12][13] On the night of the action, they realised the logistics of the operation were beyond them, and decided to abandon their plans, but were arrested when the police found them with the dolphin stretcher in the back of the car. Broughton, Horne, Jim O'Donnell, and Jim Buckner were fined £500, while Broughton and Horne were also given six-month suspended sentences.[14]

The management of Marineland eventually agreed to give Rocky to campaigners in response to Broughton and others picketing the facility. In 1991, Rocky was transferred to a lagoon reserve in the Turks and Caicos Islands, then released.[15] Peter Hughes of the University of Sunderland cites the campaign as an example of how promoting an animal rights perspective created a paradigm shift toward seeing dolphins as individuals, as a result of which, he wrote, there are now no captive dolphins in the UK.[16]

1999 possession and conspiracy charges

[edit]

Broughton was first jailed in 1999 after police found a bomb in the boot of his car.[17] He was convicted of conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. He was sentenced to four years, and released in June 2002 after serving two years and eight months.[10]

Broughton told The Independent on Sunday that he took the chance to educate himself while in prison, studying philosophy and social sciences with the Open University. "I found a lot of sympathy inside," he told the newspaper, "but a lot of the general prisoners found it very difficult to understand that I was inside for something I'd done for no personal gain."[10]

SPEAC and SPEAK campaigns

[edit]

In July 2003, Broughton and Robert Cogswell set up a campaign to halt construction of a new non-human primate research facility at Cambridge University, the plans for which suggested it would be Europe's largest primate vivisection centre. The Stop Primate Experiments at Cambridge (SPEAC) campaign succeeded in persuading the university to abandon its plans in January 2004.[18]

Shortly thereafter, SPEAC learned that Oxford University planned to build a new animal research laboratory, including a non-human primate lab, in the university's science area. The activists said that talks between Oxford and Cambridge had resulted in Oxford agreeing to conduct the brain experiments that were lost with the abandonment of Cambridge's plans.[19] SPEAC became SPEAK, The Voice for the Animals, relaunching itself as a campaign to halt all animal testing in the UK, with its second target the new Oxford lab, which opened in November 2008.[20]

2009 conviction for conspiracy to commit arson

[edit]

In connection with his role in the SPEAK campaign, Broughton was charged in December 2007 with conspiracy to blackmail and possession of incendiary devices after fire broke out inside a sports pavilion belonging to Queen's College, Oxford in November 2006, and two petrol bombs were found inside the university's Templeton College in February 2007.[21][22] The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attacks.[23][24]

Police arrested Broughton after finding a university employee's security pass and a notebook containing a list of targets for "direct action" under a carpet, and sparklers and a battery connector in an unused water tank at his house. The prosecution alleged that Broughton's DNA matched a sample found on the fuse on one of the petrol bombs.[17]

Transcripts were submitted to the court during Broughton's trial of a recording in which Oxford police discussed a "dirty war" against Broughton, and how they were going to "get him." Broughton told the court that he was under constant police surveillance.[25]

The jury was discharged in November 2008 after clearing Broughton of keeping an explosive substance with intent, but failing to reach verdicts on the other charges. Broughton was remanded in custody until his retrial in February 2009, whereupon he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and sentenced to ten years by Oxford Crown Court. Judge Patrick Eccles QC accused Broughton of being part of a "ruthless conspiracy" against the Oxford Biomedical Facility.[5]

In March 2010, Mel Broughton had his conviction overturned due to the 'unsafe' way in which the trial judge summed up the conviction, with Broughton arguing the DNA evidence in the case had been unreliable.[6] He was later granted bail on "stringent conditions" that he does not engage in animal rights activities and enter Oxfordshire. He was re-tried in June 2010.[7][26] On 13 July 2010 he was found guilty at the retrial, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.[27]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "Beagle breeding protesters arrested in Cambridgeshire". BBC News. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ Williams, Rachel (28 October 2008). "Animal rights activist 'planned bombing campaign' against Oxford University". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  3. ^ Dear, Paula. Anatomy of an animal rights protest, BBC News, 5 October 2004.
  4. ^ "Animal rights campaigner denies university bombing plot". 5 July 2010 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^ a b "Animal rights fire-bomber jailed". 13 February 2009 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
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