The Farming Express The Farming Express Jan iss4 | Page 14

Badger cull activist handed suspended prison sentence
HIGH profile badger cull activist
Jay Tiernan has been handed a sixmonth suspended prison sentence for
breaching the terms of a High Court
injunction granted to the NFU to
protect those involved in the culls.
Mr Tiernan, a leading figure in the
Stop the Cull movement, was found
in contempt in respect of all nine
breaches of the injunction put before
the court.
The six-month sentence imposed by
High Court judge Sir David Eady on
Wednesday was suspended for two
years.
Mr Tiernan, was also ordered to pay
costs, which he is quoted as saying
he will raise by crowdfunding and
writing a book on his activities in the
Somerset and Gloucestershire cull
areas.
The NFU secured the injunction in
the High Court in 2013 to protect
farmers and landowners from
harassment and intimidation during
the pilot badger culls.
The breaches included harassing
people by filming and trespassing,
protesting near NFU offices, making

excessive noise within the cull
zone and failing to notify fellow
campaigners of the details of the
injunction.
Sir David said Mr Tiernan, who had
represented himself, was a man of
good character and the breaches
did not involve any violence or
damage to property. Mr Tiernan
had apologised in court to those
concerned.
“On the other hand, the breaches
were clearly deliberate and defiant of
the court’s orders,” he said.
“The offences certainly reach the
custody threshold, but there is
room for the intermediate step of
suspending the sentence.”
Clear message
The NFU said the sentence would
‘send a warning to other people that
such action will not be tolerated’.
NFU President Meurig Raymond
said: “We welcome the Court’s
finding of contempt in this case,
and the sentence imposed for
breaching the terms of the High
Court injunction. This sends a clear
message that the injunction has teeth

and such action will not be tolerated.
“We recognise that the badger cull
is controversial and we have never
sought to stop lawful protest. But
we cannot condone actions designed
to harass, intimidate and threaten
farmers and others protected by the
injunction who are doing nothing
illegal.
“That is why we applied for the
injunction in the first place, and why
we felt compelled to bring these
proceedings against Mr Tiernan for
breaching the terms of the injunction.
“Mr Tiernan has publically said he
doesn’t care if farmers or people
living in the cull areas are frightened
by the actions of activists if it meant
people pulled out of the cull or didn’t
sign up for it.
“He has endorsed the use of militarystyle tactics to disrupt operations,
and treated the High Court
injunction, which was granted to stop
exactly this kind of behaviour, with
utter contempt.”
Badger cull incidents
Glouestershire and Somerset
police forces have revealed they

investigated 288 incidents during the
2014 pilot culls.
In a interview with Farmers
Guardian, farmers and contractors
involved in the Gloucstershire
cull spoke of the intimidation and
harassment they had been subjected
to.
Mr Tiernan has spoken openly in the
media about his efforts to disrupt the
cull.
“As a vegan I believe all animals
should be wild. The killing of
badgers to somehow “save” dairy
and beef cows is perverse,” he wrote
last year.
“The dairy cow already leads a
short, miserable life of as few as
five years compared with a natural
life span of 25. That they are forced
into a cycle of constant pregnancies
and separation from their calves to
produce milk is sad enough.
“But for an iconic, much-loved wild
mammal to be annihilated, with the
justification being to eke out a few
more months of “production”, is
anathema to me.”