A vicar's son is a prime suspect in the animal rights grave robbery of a Midland grand-mother's remains, the Sunday Mercury can reveal. Schoolteacher John Ablewhite is one of two men quizzed by police about the desecration of the burial place of 82 year-old Gladys Hammond, who died in 1997. Her bones have still not been found after they were stolen from her grave in the 13th Century St Peter's churchyard in the sleepy village of Yoxall, Staffordshire. Police believe extremists targeted the grave because Mrs Hammond was the mother of Margaret Hall, wife of Chris Hall - one of three brothers who run Darley Oaks guinea pig farm in Newchurch. The Halls, their employees and associates have endured a five-year hate campaign which has included violence, intimidation and harassment. Ablewhite, 34 and from Wolverhampton, was quizzed by cops for several hours 10 days ago following the grave robbery before being released on bail. Known variously as John, Jonathan and Jonny, he is a well-known animal rights activist and was jailed for nine months in 2001 for attacking the North Yorkshire home of the relative of an animal testing company boss. The second man arrested in connection with the grave robbery was notorious animal rights activist John Curtin, 41 and from Coventry, who is a former spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front. Ablewhite was unavailable for comment last night but Mr Curtin, a former council surveyor, did agree to an interview with the Sunday Mercury. He made a failed attempt in 1984 to dig up the remains of the 10th Duke of Beaufort, a keen huntsman, so that he could send his head to the Princess Royal. His trial heard that the plan was thwarted when a spade broke on the frozen ground of the Duke's Badminton estate and Curtin was jailed for two years. Curtin, a member of the Coventry Animal Alliance and who says he works at a Midland animal rescue centre, said: "It was my worst fear that I would be arrested over the Gladys Hammond grave robbing because I'm one of only two people in the universe with a criminal record for desecrating a grave. "I've been trying for the past 20 years to get away from the Duke of Beaufort thing. But that was not the same as the Yoxall desecration. "A few of us had come up with the idea as a publicity stunt. There was a hole dug but there was no body or bones lifted. "I realise now how sick it was to do it. My own mother died a few years ago and I stood at her grave and thought about the Duke and regretted what I had done. "But, at the same time, he was a man whose entire life was taken up with blood-sports. He was a psychopath who killed lions and tigers and protected species on safaris abroad, and who was mad about hunting. "Mrs Hammond was different. I find what happened to her revolting and appalling like any other normal person - even though that might sound rich coming from someone like me. "I would urge whoever has the remains to return them. For me, this grave robbing is like handing everything on a plate to our opponents. "It's a disaster public relations-wise. I personally have issues with some of the attacks that have taken place against people only vaguely connected to the Hall family. "But don't get me wrong. I think the Hall family are murderers. What they do is disgusting and I want them stopped. I want their farm closed." Curtin condemned the police's handling of his arrest. "They busted down the door and loads of officers came running in, screaming like terrorists," he said. "They took away my mobile phone, computer, two checked shirts, a pair of green leggings and my Wellington boots. "I couldn't give them my full alibi. I was in London for the night but I couldn't give them an address where I was staying that night because then the police would be busting someone else's door down." Curtin and Ablewhite are old friends who regularly attend animal rights demos across the country. Ablewhite is a committed anti-vivisection campaigner whom Staffordshire police sources say is a Newchurch ringleader. In 2001 he and a student were jailed for nine months for an attack in which stones and paint were thrown at the home of Leonard Cass, brother of Brian Cass, the managing director of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), causing £2,000 worth of damage. The incident was the dramatic culmination of a hate campaign by extremists targeting HLS shareholders in North York-shire, County Durham, Cleveland and Tyneside. Leaflets featuring disturbing acts of alleged animal cruelty were pushed through the letter boxes of neighbours in a "name and shame" vendetta. A senior source with Staffordshire Police's environmental investigation unit said Ablewhite led an astonishing double life - juggling his teaching duties with activities 'that push the boundaries of illegal protest to the limit'. He added: "He's not alone. Quite a few of the regular Newchurch protesters have professional jobs, many of them in the caring professions. "I think the public would be very surprised to learn that, contrary to popular belief, some of the protesters who travel to Newchurch from all over the country are not unemployed misfits, but nurses and healthcare workers." Ablewhite has worked as a supply teacher at scores of schools in the Wolverhampton and Birmingham area. He is the son of retired clergyman Stanley Ablewhite, who was priest-in-charge of St Michael and All Angels at Himley, near Dudley, before his retirement seven years ago. Prior to that he was vicar at a church in Aldridge, near Walsall, where he and wife Edna now live. Elderly Mrs Ablewhite confirmed that her son was still working as a teacher in the Wolverhampton area when contacted by the Sunday Mercury. "I'm not sure where he's working exactly but it's a job he's done for years," she said. "He loves teaching. "We know about his animal rights activities but he doesn't really talk about it much. My husband is recovering from major heart surgery and can't talk about this at the moment. It's a difficult subject for us both." She said she had spoken to her son since his arrest. The single teacher, who lives in a rented house in Larches Lane in the upmarket Wolverhampton suburb of Compton, is believed to have fled to avoid media interest. His former landlord remembers Ablewhite as a 'decent tenant' and a vociferous animal rights sympathiser. "He rented a bedsit in Merridale Crescent for a while a few years ago and always paid the rent on time," said Bob Evans. "He was a nice man. I think he'd workes as a teacher for quite a few years. Last time I heard he was working at Smestow School in Wolverhampton. "I knew he had extremely strong views about animal cruelty but I'm surprised to hear he was arrested over this." | 
