FOUR protesters have been sentenced for causing criminal damage to an animal research laboratory in Ledbury. 

The group used red chalk spray to daub anti-vivisection slogans at the entrance to Sequani and handcuffed themselves to the gates until police arrived to arrest them.

Sarah Benn, 56, from Birmingham, Yasmin Brown, 33, from Swansea, and Fiona Crarey, 68, from Barrow-in-Furness, were each ordered to do 100 hours community service, while Louise Ryan, 51, from Kidderminster, was given an eight-week curfew due to being a wheelchair-user.

All four made statements in which they claimed their actions were morally justified and refused to apologise for them.

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Benn, a retired doctor, told the court: “Most of the public, including those who adore their companion animals as family members, are unaware of the ongoing extreme suffering endured by dogs and other species in animal testing facilities like Sequani.

“It’s well-known that animal testing is misleading, unnecessary, and profoundly cruel. Proven alternatives have been established and it is only inertia and profits that allow the practice to continue.“

Ryan added: “Animal experiments are an example of speciesism, otherwise known as human supremacism, which is the immoral and irrational belief that humans are somehow more important than other sentient beings that share this planet with us.

“If our government were to do the decent thing and abolish experiments on animals, there would be no need for people like myself to carry out the sort of action that took place at Sequani, and for as long as such experiments remain legal, I have no doubt people will continue to take direct action in an effort to bring them to an end.”

The Hereford Times has approached Sequani for a comment.