'She has done nothing wrong'
THE parents of an animal rights activist jailed for 11 years have criticised the harshness of their daughter's prison sentence.
Heather Nicholson was among seven people convicted for being part of a blackmail plot against animal testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences.
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George and Shirley Barwick, parents of imprisoned animal rights campaigner Heather Nicholson, at the family home in Killay.
But while her co-defendants made guilty pleas, the 41-year-old's insistence she had done nothing wrong meant she landed the longest sentence.
Her bewildered parents, George and Shirley Barwick, have leapt to their daughter's defence, branding the sentence ridiculous.
Mr Barwick, a vegan, said: "There are rapists and murderers who get lesser sentences than Heather did.
"It is grotesquely unjust what has happened.
"It's madness to think the people who commit these acts are allowed to get away with such horrendous things, while my daughter has been made out to be some kind of terrorist — she would literally never hurt a fly.
"I am still proud of her conviction and beliefs."
The seven animal rights campaigners, part of Shac (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty), were sentenced at Winchester Crown Court this week.
Prosecutors said they conspired to use a number of "terrorism" tactics such as paedophile smears and bomb hoaxes to intimidate companies associated with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).
About 40 firms were targeted, and the total cost of damage and increased security was said to have been £12.6 million.
"It is a spurious charge — conspiracy to blackmail," added retired carpenter Mr Barwick.
"She had not done anything wrong."
Former Olchfa pupil Heather Nicholson grew up in Dunvant, and was an animal lover from a young age.
However, her fondness for creatures great and small became stronger after she worked for the RSPCA at its old base in Singleton Park, Swansea.
Shop worker Mrs Barwick, aged 64, said: "She used to come home crying her eyes out because she said they had a policy then of putting down healthy dogs they could not find homes for."
Ms Nicholson, who adopted her mother's maiden name following her divorce, would later become involved with a number of successful protests. Among those she helped put a stop to was a controversial scheme to export veal from Swansea Airport in 1993.
Six years later, she helped set up Shac, which aimed to halt "sick" experiments at HLS in Cambridgeshire.
Tactics Shac planned to use against firms associated with animal testing included paedophile smears and daubing slogans on roads outside managers' homes reading "puppy killer".
Sentencing the activists, Mr Justice Butterfield called the campaign "urban terrorism" which had made the victims' lives "a living hell".
Nicholson pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to blackmail, but was convicted and handed an 11-year sentence.
However, her co-accused, which included her ex-husband Gregg Avery, were handed lesser sentences ranging from four to nine years.
"She will probably spend around five-and-a-half years in prison," added Mr Barwick.
"But, in effect, if she puts a foot wrong she will be sent back to jail.
"She could have pleaded guilty and got a reduction in her sentence, but in her and my mind she has done nothing wrong.
"She did not physically hurt anyone, and was not as involved as the others. She's also been on remand for 20 months and was refused bail, which is ludicrous."
He added: "I'm still proud of her and her principles."
In the meantime, Nicholson's parents have been keeping themselves busy by looking after her four dogs near their Killay home.
And they say their daughter, is coping well, despite being behind bars.
Mr Barwick, aged 73, added: "I just want to make it clear, she was against animal cruelty, not humane forms of testing.
"Experiments where cats have probes inserted into their brains is the real crime. My daughter is guilty of being compassionate, nothing else."
68 Comments
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by Linda M, Hants
Wednesday, February 04 2009, 6:48PM
“Can we help in any way - what about a petiton?”
by sympathiser, neath
Thursday, January 29 2009, 8:55PM
“I have just heard on tonights news that 4 males who killed a young boy in England have been sentenced to only between two and seven years each making a total of 13 years. The judiciary system in this country has gone mad. Heather must appeal against her eleven year sentence as it is grossly unfair as she never took anyones life. All she did was stick up for the voiceless ones who suffer pain and torture every day year in and year out. She should be hailed as a hero not a criminal. Yes she should pay financially for any damage she may have done but not be sent to prison for eleven years!”
by Chrissie, Southampton
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 11:21PM
“I totally agree with Helen of Swansea, the sentence is totally ridiculous. Why do we humans think we have the right to inflict terrible pain and suffering on totally innocent creatures, They have just as much right to life as we have.
We need people like Heather who have the guts to stand up for what they believe in and be a voice for animals who can't speak for themseves. If somone was torturing you - isn't that what you would want?
Release her now - she hasn't done anything wrong.”
by NJARAA, neath
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 9:15PM
“Many people may not be aware that many of these experiments are not medical or even cosmetic but are simply scientific experiments on animals for e.g, do we still need to know how much shampoo a rabbit needs to ingest before it becomes ill? Some people quote that if one animal were to die to save a hundred people it would be worth it, but people are not aware that thousands of animals are experimented on for non medical research. These animals are bred merely to be experimented on and then dissected. Not one aspect of their lives are pleasant or pain free, to put it mildly. A huge number of these animals experience great pain and suffering. There are alternatives, of course, but it is more profitable to continue this way. Many animal rights people are truly dedicated to save animals from suffering and put their own lives at risk in order to do so. These experiments could be scaled down greatly if only minimal medical experiments were carried out that could be done no other way. Most of the experiments are of no use anyway for human beings as our bodies react differently to those of animals.”
by George Barwick, Killay
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 4:45PM
“To respond to all the points made that are less than sympathetic to Heather's situation, would take more time than I have and more space than is available to me. So I shall be brief.
Heather has been motivated all along by COMPASSION.
Please accept that! Regarding tactics used by some activists - Heather was IN NO WAY involved with fake letter bombs, accusations of paedophilia, offensive grafitti, etc
Actually, she wasn't even involved with contacting firms that dealt with HLS to persuade them not to be involved with the place. In fact,
for years she has been advised by rristers on how to campaign WITHIN THE LAW and she has striven all along to do this. She has organised peaceful demos often consulting and co-operating with the police. And she has done stalls and handed out leaflets.
She swears to me that she had nothing to do with the over-the-top tactics of some activists and didn't even know who they were!!!!!
Regarding the (to my mind!) spurious charge of 'conspiracy to blackmail' - putting pressure on companies not to deal with HLS hardly compares with demanding money 'or else'
and it seems that you don't have to do anything very much to be guilty of conspiracy you just have to be involved in some way with a group. This is what has happened to my daughter.
Finally let me tell you about an animal experiment. Rats were deprived of sleep for 17 days and then they died!!
Whoever conducted that experiment (which to me is pure torture) - if Heather got 11 years, what should he have got?”
by G.Thomas, swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 3:57PM
“Karen in London - excellent comment, I agree 100%. Lauren in Glos. - Are you for real?! Are you really unaware that there are products that are NOT tested on animals?! and "They encourage and inform people to ring and email anonymously to maintain their privacy. They don't have the guts to stand up for their convictions. " yeah, well done on missing your own point, person who callded themsleves 'Swansea resident'! Felix in Llandovery - actually it is very easy to get products that have not been tested in ANY way on animls nor have any animal ingredient in them, should you care to even look on the net you will see how easy it is.”
by cheryl, swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 1:10PM
“anon anon.
Do you really believe for one minute that the campaign?
You should do some research on animal rights then you will realise just because an activist has been jailed there are many more to take their place.”
by Swanseajock, Swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 11:19AM
“Mr Carter, she is not innocent, she has been convicted in a court of law.
Karen, how can being convicted of conspiricy to blackmail be part of a legal campaign? Blackmail is illegal. She deserves what she gets.”
by Meg, Swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 9:59AM
“Thank god for a voice of reason Karen - now the rest of you rabid bunch should go away and read some factual information about this case and also about huntingdon life sciences then come back and attempt some kind of discussion based on reason - or is that too much to ask for round here?”
by Karen, London
Monday, January 26 2009, 2:15PM
“Wow - loads of people on this thread don't even appear to have read the article. Heather was never accused of sending hoax bombs, starting smear campaigns etc. I am not disputing that these things happened, I am just saying it wasn't her! She was convicted of conspiracy to blackmail for merely being part of a legal campaign.”