Skip to main content

Animal Rights Extremists

Volume 456: debated on Monday 29 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his policy to treat attacks on property by animal extremists as terrorist attacks under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. (110924)

[holding answer 25 January 2007]: No animal rights extremist has been charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 or the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. However, should the activities of animal rights extremists, or any other individual or group, meet the required threshold of terrorism contained within the Acts, it is entirely possible that those Acts could be used. It is the remit of the police and Crown Prosecution Service to select the most appropriate charge in individual cases. To date, offences under other legislation including the relatively new economic damage offences in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 have been more appropriate for bringing charges, and there have been a number of convictions of leading animal rights extremists.