Drugs company takes action to curb protests
8:56am Thursday 19th April 2007
Comments (3)A DRUGS company at the centre of a campaign by animal rights activists has launched a legal fight to keep protestors away from its factories.
GlaxoSmithKline claims activists have waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against employees, including attacking workers' vehicles and homes. Yesterday, the company applied for a High Court injunction restricting protests at 18 UK sites, including its plant in Barnard Castle, County Durham, where it employs more than 1,000 people.
Campaigners have been protesting against Glaxo's links with medical research group Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Earlier this month, the company was granted a temporary injunction, but is now asking for an extension of the order to restrict protests by the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) group and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
Yesterday, Glaxo's lawyers asked Judge Mr Justice Teare for exclusion zones to be created around company premises and to ban harassment of workers.
Paul Girolami, representing the company, said senior members of staff had been abused at home and that protests outside the company's bases had also turned sinister.
Shareholders in the North-East have been among those targeted by extremists and several worried investors called police after receiving offensive letters.
The proposed order bars campaigners from assaulting, harassing, molesting, threatening or otherwise interfering with workers or their families and from knowingly demonstrating within 50 yards of their homes.
Protests outside plants would be restricted to once every 28 days, between 10am and 4pm, with a maximum of 20 or 30 participants, depending on the site, and certain sound devices would also be banned.
Mr Girolami said: "The aim of such zones is to promote reasonable, legitimate protest, while avoiding the risk that protest could lead to the very harassment that it is the purpose of the order to prevent."
Greg Avery, representing the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) group, said no order should be made against his group, since it was already doing all it could to make sure its protests remained within the law.
Mr Justice Teare adjourned the case and set no date for its conclusion.
Your Say YourThe Northern Echo
Steve, Darlington says...
5:32pm Thu 19 Apr 07
Sound peaceful?
Dave J, Newcastle says...
5:35pm Fri 20 Apr 07
Violence to sentient creatures is unacceptable. Damaging inanimate property to help stop violence against animals is perfectly OK to me.
Battle ground: The GlaxoSmithKline factory in Barnard Castle, County Durham. If the company's legal action is successful, protestors at the plant will face restrictions
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Camille Scannello, USA says...
5:24pm Thu 19 Apr 07
The result of these kinds of repressive actions are that they drive peaceful and compassionate law abiding citizens, who wish to speak out against social injustices, into criminals. Why suffer harassment to do a peaceful demonstration, that no one can see or hear, when you could have a far greater impact under cover of darkness?
Draconian and repressive legal measures are only creating more of the very activities that the government is attempting to curtail. My fear is that we are not far from seeing all protest being made illegal. What's next: thought control?