Three animal activists found guilty of stealing lambs from King’s Sandringham estate
Three animal rights activists have been found guilty of theft after taking three lambs from King Charles III’s Sandringham estate.
Rose Patterson, Sarah Foy and Rosa Sharkey were convicted following a four-day trial at Norwich Crown Court. They are due to be sentenced later today.
The women took the lambs, named Sammy, Sunny and Sooty, from Appleton Farm, part of the Sandringham estate, in May 2023. The following day, they held signs outside Windsor Castle reading “I rescued the King’s sheep” before informing police what they had done.
Animal Rising, the campaign group to which the women belong, said the case had drawn attention to the treatment of farmed animals. It said more than 10 million sheep are slaughtered in the UK each year. The three lambs are now fully grown and remain safe, according to the group.
Patterson, an Animal Rising director, said after the verdict: “We are of course disappointed by the verdict today, but it doesn’t change how I feel about rescuing Sammy, Sunny and Sooty. We rescued them because we believed they deserved the chance of a long life, rather than having their lives cut short simply because they were being farmed for food. I don’t regret for a moment giving them that chance.”
She added: “Three years later, the lambs are now fully grown, living safely and happily. Had they been left behind that day, they would have been slaughtered after living just a fraction of the lives they could have had. Instead, they have had the chance to grow up and, we hope, grow old, just as we all deserve to.”
Patterson said she had previously witnessed sheep in slaughterhouses and reported what she believed were breaches of animal welfare law without seeing action taken.
“When I saw Sammy, Sunny and Sooty in that field, knowing what would await them, I felt compelled to act,” she said.
She also appealed to the King, saying: “The King is an animal lover, and I think he would actually be glad to see Sammy, Sunny and Sooty thriving today. I hope that if he considers the fate the lambs faced on his estate, he will recognise why we believed they deserved the chance at life that they now have.”
The verdict follows other trials involving Animal Rising activists. Earlier this year, Patterson was found not guilty in a case concerning the removal of beagle puppies from MBR Acres, a facility that breeds animals for research.
