PETA F&@#ers

1. Trevor Morse trial

Yesterday gyrocopter pilot Bryan Griffiths was cleared of the 'manslaughter by gross negligence' of Warwickshire Hunt supporter Trevor Morse by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court. To many this decision will come as a surprise, especially given the contents of the video shot by Mr Griffiths' fellow animal rights activist Peter Bunce. The jury concluded that Mr Griffiths' 'belief' that he was somehow under threat justified the sequence of events that lead to Trevor's death. The identity of Griffith's co-pilot, and his history and criminal record, were known to the Judge but for legal reasons not disclosed to the Jury.

The verdict apart this case raises some very serious questions about the actions of animal rights groups including Protect Our Wildlife Animals (POWA), the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The use of aircraft to follow hunts, especially mounted hunts, is patently unsafe so much so that the Association of Chief Police Officers advised very clearly that it is something police forces should not even consider. Despite this Bryan Griffiths attended a League Against Cruel Sports seminar in 2006 and offered his services as a helicopter pilot. In February 2007 he hired a helicopter in his own name and in the company of two associates flew over the Warwickshire and Heythrop Hunts. The level of complaints about the activity of the helicopter were so high that he knew he would not be able to hire one again and instead set about purchasing a gyrocopter.

Mr Griffiths' companions in February 2007 were the same two people who were with him at Long Marston airfield when Trevor Morse was killed: Peter Bunce and John Curtin. Mr. Bunce is a prominent member of the group POWA and is well known to hunts in the Midlands and Thames Valley. In 2003 he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident after knocking a Warwickshire Hunt supporter off his motorbike. John Curtin is an iconic figure in the animal rights movement having served a series of jail terms for extremist activity. Most extraordinarily he was jailed for 2 years in 1986 after an attempt to dig up the body of the 10th Duke of Beaufort with the intention of sending his head to Princess Anne. He has been a leading figure in the campaign against Huntingdon Life Science and was also arrested and questioned about robbing the grave of Gladys Hammond, a relative of the owners of a guinea pig farm. Mr Griffiths was introduced to John Curtin by Kevin Hill, a long serving employee of IFAW. Mr Griffiths found John Curtin to be a "likeable guy" and they struck up a partnership flying together in the gyrocopter five times with Peter Bunce acting as their ground support.

On the fifth and fatal occasion, 9th March 2009, Griffiths and Curtin were not even filming the Warwickshire hunt. They claimed to have forgotten their camera, but continued to fly over the hunt in order to disrupt it and harass its followers without even the pretence of 'monitoring'.

Despite this background, the court has decided that what happened when they landed and were confronted by Trevor Morse was not manslaughter by gross negligence, but a proportionate response. However, one thing is absolutely certain: had Messrs Griffiths, Curtin and Bunce not decided to chase hunts around the countryside in a gyrocopter aircraft Trevor Morse would not be dead and Griffiths would not have faced trial.

I will return to the strange connections within the animal rights world that this case in future comments. For now I can only restate that there is no place for animal rights activists in the policing of the Hunting Act or any other legislation. It is for the police to enforce the law of the land, not self-appointed vigilantes. Surely Trevor Morse's death makes that clear?

Simon Hart

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Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside several fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials.

“Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong.”

The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activist groups, “growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats,” decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it…ergo, they should stop.”

According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960′s era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began.

“They peed on me!!!” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’, and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!”

“I…I was trying to show my outrage at a man with a heavy leather jacket, and he…he didn’t even care. I called him a murderer, and all he said was, ‘You can’t prove that.’ Next thing I know he forced me to ride on the back of his motorcycle all day, and would not let me off, because his girl friend was out of town and I was almost a woman.”

Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads.”

Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations.

“That’s preposterous,” said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.”

When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.

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