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Action at Hill Grove Farm keeps hotting up. On July 6 more than two hundred demonstrators were held off by 80 police, some mounted. An ACT-AV spokesperson said, "We are here every weekend and this protest will continue until Hill Grove Farm is closed". The police were heavy-handed and intimidating according to protesters. One is filing a complaint that he was grabbed around the throat.
"Disgusting smells" on the grass verge raised fears that Farmer Brown had sprayed to deter the activists. Cynthia O'Neill said, "There was a horrible gassy smell, like cat pee. many demonstartors left with headaches." The local environment and health department is investigating.
Following this demonstartion, Farmer Brown has managed to obtain a court order banning all protesters from the vicinity of Hill Grove Farm. This amazing and draconian order, under the new British 'Protection from Harassment' Act is addressed to three specific people and "all individuals and organisations holding themeselves out as animal rights activists." If any of these people communicate with Farmer Brown or his family, trespass on Hill Grove Farm, use any of the public footpaths crossing the farm, or venture onto the roads leading to the farm and a block of land to the south; they will risk prison, a fine, and asset seizure. This court order cost Farmer Brown 5000 pounds sterling and is the first time the act has been used in civil courts.
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