Will ANYONE stop these eco-clowns? Just Stop Oil throw orange powder over award-winning sustainable garden at the Chelsea Flower Show as Animal Rising drag frightened lambs away from their mothers on the King's Sandringham estate
- Activists were warned their stunts would destroy any public sympathy they had
- Parliament might have to bring in stronger punishments, according to Tory MP
- READ: Animal Rising activists planning to disrupt Epsom Derby could be jailed
Eco-fanatics caused outrage yesterday by kidnapping three lambs from a royal farm and attacking the Chelsea Flower Show.
They were warned their stunts, which raised animal welfare fears and caused costly damage, would destroy any public sympathy they had.
The incidents are the latest in a series that includes a paint attack on the World Snooker Championships and a bid to sabotage the Grand National.
Parliament might now have to bring in stronger punishments, according to Tory veteran Peter Bone.
The MP said: 'When a very, very tiny minority is ruining the lives of other people, action needs to be taken. If this were to continue and the current laws are not strong enough, the Government will have to introduce new laws.
Three Just Stop Oil activists vandalised a show garden at Chelsea Flower Show. Charity co-ordinator Stephanie Golder (middle), 35, retired landscape engineer Naomi Goddard (left), 58, and disability support worker Rosa Hicks (right), 28, threw orange powder paint from their handbags across the flowers and hard landscaping of the RBC Brewin Dolphin garden
A woman dampened the protest by grabbing a hose pipe and drenching the three intruders
The three were confronted by security and later arrested on suspicion of criminal damage
Rosa Hicks describes herself as an Extinction Rebellion activist on her LinkedIn
Rosa Hicks pictured being escorted from the show and into the back of a police van
'We are not talking about peaceful protest. This completely ruins the lives of the vast majority of people. We just can't carry on like this.'
Yesterday's chaos began with three Animal Rising activists presenting themselves to Slough Police after announcing they had taken three lambs from Appleton Farm on the royal Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
They included Rose Patterson, 33, who was previously arrested on suspicion of leading the group's plot to sabotage the Grand National, as uncovered by The Mail on Sunday.
The three activists said they rescued the lambs – dubbed Sammy, Sunny and Sooty – late on Wednesday night to save them from slaughter.
After concerns were raised that the animals – whose location is unknown – would be distressed after being separated from their mothers, the group claimed taking the ewes as well was not possible. They said they 'hid' the lambs before handing themselves in.
An hour later three Just Stop Oil activists vandalised a show garden at Chelsea Flower Show.
Charity co-ordinator Stephanie Golder, 35, retired landscape engineer Naomi Goddard, 58, and disability support worker Rosa Hicks, 28, threw orange powder paint from their handbags across the flowers and hard landscaping of the RBC Brewin Dolphin garden.
The trio were arrested by police on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the garden which was showcasing sustainability.
Gareth Wilson, its award-winning designer, said: 'These people are absolute morons who have failed to do their homework.
'The Royal Horticultural Society is massively – probably more than any other organisation of its kind – moving heaven and earth to push for sustainability. It just won't accept your design if it is not sustainable.
'But these morons have come into a sustainable showground. They are working against their own cause.'
Naomi Goddard (pictured left)
Ticket payers watched on in shock as the noisy eco mob was led out of the show
Golder works for the Alexandra Rose Charity and ironically claims to 'spend as much time as possible in her garden growing food and flowers'
Stephanie Golder has been involved in numerous Just Stop Oil protests and acted as the group's spokesperson
Well known activist Stephanie Golder had previously represented the group outside Southend Crown Court
Mr Wilson said the mainly recyclable display had been permanently damaged.
Tory MP Greg Smith, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on farming, said of the Sandringham incident: 'You can't dress it up as protest, or campaigning, or being some sort of cuddly group of do-gooders. Those involved need to face the consequences under the law.'
Paul Scully, Tory MP for Sutton and Cheam, accused the flower show activists of 'losing yet more public support for their cause'.
He added: 'As green an event as can be, attended by some of the most environmentally aware people, yet Just Stop Oil target gardens which have taken months of hard work and nature to prepare. This needs action by Met Police.'
Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands, the MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said: 'This is an appalling attack by Just Stop Oil on the Chelsea Flower Show, literally Britain's greenest event. This is utterly contemptible.'
Golder was arrested in April last year for shutting down two M25 service stations.
Stronger powers to allow officers to crack down on protests are going through parliament.
Lambs snatched from their mothers 'must be terrified'
Farmers, countryside campaigners and MPs last night condemned the 'traumatising' stunt pulled off by militants after they took three lambs from the King's Sandringham Estate.
The three animal rights zealots trespassed on Appleton Farm in Norfolk and bundled the lambs into a van – separating them from their distressed mothers.
Rose Paterson, 33, Rosa Sharkey, 23, and Sarah Foy, 23, filmed themselves 'rescuing' the lambs and spiriting them away.
Sheep farming specialists lambasted the group's reckless antics and urged Animal Rising to return the sheep to their mothers.
The three animal rights zealots trespassed on Appleton Farm in Norfolk and bundled the lambs into a van – separating them from their distressed mothers
Rose Paterson (left), 33, Rosa Sharkey (middle), 23, and Sarah Foy (right), 23, filmed themselves 'rescuing' the lambs and spiriting them away
Nicola Noble of the National Sheep Association said: 'The mothers have likely spent the last 24 hours scouring the field for their lambs, bleating endlessly with no hope of finding them.
'These animals would no doubt have been terrified as they were chased and manhandled by complete strangers.'
'Being bundled into the back of a dark van would have been highly distressing for the sheep involved – not to mention the risk of potential disease contamination. The lambs, I imagine, will be endlessly bleating, hopelessly calling out in search for their mothers.'
Gareth Wyn Jones, 56, a sheep farmer with over five decades of experience, said that the protesters were likely to have terrified the lambs. He added: 'These people are absolutely bonkers.
'It's distressing for these animals to be handled wrongly by amateur strangers. They must have chased the sheep around in order to catch them – stressing them out. And taking lambs away from their mothers is incredibly cruel.
'Animal Rising have been flaunting this all over social media as well. They need to be made an example of.'
Last night MPs and campaigners joined the criticism. Former farms minister George Eustice said: 'Actions of this sort are highly irresponsible and possibly very bad for the welfare of young lambs who should not be separated from their mothers.'
Mo Metcalf Fisher of the Countryside Alliance, condemned the 'selfish' stunt and urged the Government to prosecute.
He added: 'Amateurs with no real understanding of livestock care risk causing considerable distress to any animal they seek to steal.'
On video: The militants and the lambs they have torn away from their mothers
1 - The rebellion regular: Rose Patterson is a full-time animal rights activist and no stranger to causing disruption.
The 33-year-old was last month accused of being the ringleader of planned disruption at the Grand National. The plot to ruin the race was exposed by a Mail on Sunday investigation.
Some 118 activists were arrested after they tried to storm perimeter fences. Patterson was arrested in Greater Manchester before the race began.
Three protesters from the animal rights group Animal Rising carried away three lambs from Appleton Farm on the King's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk
The militant animal campaigning group
the three women handling the sheep and taking it onto a small van
Patterson, 33, one of the directors of Animal Rising and the ringleader of the group's plot to sabotage the Grand National
Patterson was arrested last month on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance over plans to disrupt the racecourse. Pictured: Patterson at the Animal Rising protest on Westminster Bridge in February
Animal Rising, an offshoot of the climate group Extinction Rebellion, has vowed to disrupt the Epsom Derby taking place next Saturday on June 3
activists stormed a dairy farm in Dorset demanding that a calf be released
30 protesters entered and 'occupied' Grange Dairy in Winfrith Newburgh, near Dorchester, Dorset
An animal rising protester sitting down at Grange Dairy with a picture of a cow with two calves
Animal Rising supporters ran onto the racetrack at Aintree last month before the Grand National
two activists made it onto the racecourse and attempted to glue themselves to the second jump
Activists at the farm were pictured 'comforting' some of the approximately 1,000 calves
Animal Rising protesters sit in at Grange Dairy Farm, which supplies 'high quality' milk to supermarkets
Around 30 supporters of the activist group entered the dairy farm in Dorset
Animal Rising activists staged protests at six restaurants across the UK, holding up a manifesto for a world free from animal farming
Animal Rising activists planned to scale the fences and enter the track of Aintree Racecourse before the Grand National race began. Pictured: Horses clear one of the fences in the 2022 edition of the world-famous steeplechase race
Pictured: Armed officers at the entrance of Aintree Racecourse
Pictured: Horses on the gallops ahead of day three of the Grand National Festival
Animal Rising protestors brought banners to Aintree Racecourse
Armed police at the Aintree Racecourse for the Grand National Festival
An animal rights activist is arrested by police officers at Aintree Racecourse after the start of the Grand National was delayed
More than 100 animal rights activists were arrested after the Grand National protests
The race was delayed by 14 minutes after the animal rights protestors tried to jump on the course
Animal Rising spokesperson Claudia Penna Rojas was arrested by several officers outside Aintree Racecourse
Claudia Penna Rojas can be seen standing and speaking to police (left), before she employs the commonly used tactic of going limp - requiring several officers to carry her away
animal rights protester
The Animal Rising activists climbed under and over fences and infiltrated the track
activist
An angry commuter tries to throw a Just Stop Oil activist off the road as they cross Blackfriars Bridge
Just Stop Oil activists slow marching in London Bridge
One Just Stop Oil protester is seen being led away by police, after Met officers were forced to make eight arrests following a demonstration in Parliament Square
Eight protesters were arrested by police. Pictured is one activist being detained
30 campaigners were moved off Westminster Bridge following a slow-march there at rush-hour. Pictured is a protester being detained in Parliament Square
Protesters were escorted into a police van during the drama in Westminster
This activist, left, was among those arrested. During an earlier protest she identified herself as a 21-year-old called Hannah from Melbourne
A number of officers were seen surrounding some of the activists
Activists gathered in Parliament Square with orange banners
Police are seen searching one protester in Westminster
climate change protesters were forced off the road by police as they tried to make their way towards the Palace of Westminster
30 Just Stop Oil campaigners were involved in their protest in London, marching along Westminster Bridge
The man was seen yelling at the eco-warriors, telling them to 'get out the way', 'go and have a wash' and 'go and get a job and do something useful'
Fury boiled over as one man is seen pushing Just Stop Oil protesters during their latest slow march in London
The male, wearing a white polo shirt and shorts, was seen ripping away orange banners from the climate change campaigners
A frustrated driver stands up to one of the Just Stop Oil activists to make his case
A male confronted the group, who were blocking traffic in Elephant and Castle and screamed: 'Get out the f***ing way before you get run over'
Just Stop Oil embarked on yet another central London slow march enraging motorists
A lone activist tries to block off a van while her colleague speaks to the irate driver
A workman can be seen swearing and edging closer towards the activists
Large protests took place in Haymarket, Knightsbridge and Regent Street
Just Stop Oil activists being detained during their march in central London
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