Alfreton woman sentenced over theft of King's lambs from Sandringham
Sarah Foy was one of three animal rights activists ordered to do unpaid work after taking three lambs from the King's estate
A woman from Alfreton has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of stealing three lambs from the King's Sandringham Estate.
Sarah Foy, aged 26, was sentenced alongside fellow animal rights activists Rosa Sharkey, also 26, and Rose Patterson, 37, at Norwich Crown Court.
All three were each handed a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay £250 each towards prosecution costs.
The case relates to the theft of three lambs from a field at Appleton Farm in Norfolk on 24th May 2023.
What happened at the farm
The three women, who wore pink Animal Rising T-shirts, took the lambs from the field before a fourth person, named in court only as "Ben", drove them to a sanctuary in a van.
The following day, the women travelled to Windsor Castle to tell police what they had done.
They went to Windsor police station after armed officers outside the royal residence did not engage with them.
Foy, of Alfreton, Derbyshire, along with Sharkey, of Brighton, and Patterson, who told the court she lives in London, had pleaded not guilty to theft.
In a prepared statement given to police, the women said they believed King Charles "would have consented to the lambs' rescue" and argued they had not acted dishonestly.
Jurors rejected that argument, finding all three guilty following a trial and three hours and 48 minutes of deliberation.
Prosecution says taking lambs was "plainly dishonest"
Dingle Clark, prosecuting, said in his closing speech that it was an "obvious nonsense that the owner would have consented" to the lambs being taken.
"The prosecution say this was plainly dishonest," Clark said.
"The reason why it was dishonest is they were taking something which didn't belong to them.
"They had to put a door over a fence and they did it… to publicise their views."
Clark told the court that all three women had previous convictions.
He said Patterson had three convictions related to public order offences, Foy had two convictions, and Sharkey had six convictions, including one linked to a protest at the Grand National meeting at Aintree.
Judge describes defendants as "seasoned campaigners"
Judge Anthony Bate said after the guilty verdicts were returned that he had "in mind a community order and some unpaid work".
The court reconvened later the same afternoon for sentencing, after the defendants had spoken with a worker from the probation service, who assessed all three as suitable for unpaid work.
Passing sentence, the judge said the jury had found by their guilty verdicts that the defendants "did steal the sheep on the occasion in question, sincere though their motives were".
He described the three women as "to various degrees seasoned campaigners".
"They are all, may I say so, intelligent and capable women who can make a valuable contribution to society through these means," the judge said.
There were hugs with supporters in the public gallery as the defendants left the courtroom after the guilty verdicts were returned.
Activist says she does not regret rescuing the lambs
Patterson, who is a director at Animal Rising, said after the guilty verdicts were returned that she was disappointed by the outcome.
"We are, of course, disappointed by the verdict today, but it doesn't change how I feel about rescuing Sammy, Sunny and Sooty," Patterson said.
"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."