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Horror for missing body family
Oct 13 2004
The Staffordshire family of an 82-year-old woman whose body was stolen from her grave today blamed animal rights extremists.
Relatives of Gladys Hammond have been subjected to a long-running campaign by activists, suffering hate mail, malicious phone calls, hoax bombs, a paedophile smear campaign and arson attacks.
Mrs Hammond, who died in 1997, was the mother-in-law of Chris Hall who runs Darley Oaks Farm with his brother John in Newchurch, Staffordshire.
The farm specialises in breeding guinea pigs for medical research.
Earlier today, detectives said they would talk to animal rights protesters as part of their investigation.
John Hall told BBC Radio 4 programme You and Yours that the family was in shock but had no doubt about who was to blame.
"We're horrified that they (animal rights protesters) could reach such a low in their campaign against us to have desecrated Gladys' grave," he told the programme.
"I think this goes a lot deeper than what most people would accept as any form of protest. It is really goulish.
"I don't think anyone else would be so goulish as to go into a church yard under the cover of darkness and desecrate a grave."
A private security firm had been employed to patrol the farm so the family "could sleep at night", he said.
