Northamptonshire locking-on conviction 'one of the first'

Several protesters turned up at Towcester Racecourse at the English Greyhound Derby in July 2023

A man has been convicted of a new protesting offence following a demonstration at a greyhound race track.

Edward Allnutt has been convicted of going to Towcester Racecourse, Northamptonshire, equipped to lock onto railings. The case is thought to be one of the first in the country.

Allnutt was also convicted, with two others, of obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity.

They will be sentenced in April.

Police officers conducted searches of vehicles on the day of the derby

Northamptonshire Police said it was called to Towcester Racecourse on 1 July 2023, the day of the annual English Greyhound Derby, to deal with a protest.

The police said the protest ended peacefully, but a small number of the group got onto the race circuit and tried to storm the track.

Several people were arrested.

Northamptonshire Police said the protest initially ended peacefully

Edward Allnutt, 42, Sasha Joliffe, 46, and Joseph Moss, 21, all of no fixed abode, were subsequently charged with obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity.

Allnutt was also charged with going equipped to lock on.

They were all found guilty at Northampton Magistrates' Court earlier this month.

Some protesters got onto the track at Towcester Racecourse in Northamptonshire

The offence of locking on was included in the Public Order Act 2023 and has been committed by someone who causes disruption by attaching themselves, someone else or an object to land or another object.

Ch Insp Pete Basham, who oversaw the policing of the protest, said: "It is always difficult securing convictions in the early days of new legislation as the judiciary are learning about the offences at the same time as we are, and there is no case law or previous rulings to guide them.

"So to secure this result is a real positive for us and reflective of the work put in."