Peter Rogers / Debbie Vincent

Peter Vincent Rogers / Debbie Vincent, a violent male who identifies as a trans woman, was found guilty of conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) by a jury at Winchester Crown Court in 2014. Vincent was a key member of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac), which is linked to the Animal Liberation Front.

Vincent, 52, was sentenced to six years in jail after the defence team told the court that because media coverage of the trial included details of Vincent being a former soldier who had undergone a sex change, “she would find it extremely hard to endure prison”.

Vincent led a group of animal right extremists who waged a decade-long campaign of terror and intimidation against employees and trading partners of the company including assaults, attacking employees’ homes with fire bombs, criminal damage, false accusations of paedophilia and sending sanitary towels supposedly contaminated with HIV in the post. An urn containing the ashes of an HLS trading partner’s mother was dug up and stolen from a graveyard and the grave desecrated with threats against the man and his wife. The urn was never recovered.

Passing sentence, Judge Keith Cutler, said Vincent had expressed “no shred of remorse”.

The defendant had previously been convicted of intimidation against those the group accused of doing business with HLS in 2004; the group of masked protesters had gathered outside employees’ homes. Vincent was given a 120 hour community punishment order and ordered to pay £450 costs which obviously served as no deterrent considering the campaign of fear and violence the group went on to commit.

In 1980, Vincent was reportedly discharged from the army after Royal Military Police found women’s clothes among the defendant’s belongings while investigating the theft of credit cards. After marrying in 1987 then divorcing in 1990, Vincent’s ex-wife agreed to sell the marital home to pay for a gender reassignment operation. At the time of the trial it was reported that Vincent had subsequently had no contact with their son for more than 20 years.

Photo credit: PA via Daily Mail

Media reports

Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2583872/The-solider-animal-rights-terror-commander-Activist-spent-decade-masterminding-attacks-supplies-animal-testing-lab.html

BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27063991

Daily Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/animal-rights-activist-debbie-vincent-3259342

Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10716354/The-boy-who-grew-up-to-become-a-woman-of-terror.html