Mr Justice Miles:
Introduction
1. This is the hearing of a contempt application dated 11 August 2023, made by Jockey Club Racecourses Limited as claimant against the ninth defendant, Mr Benjamin Newman (“the defendant”). The claimant was represented before me by Mr Paul Higgins and the defendant by Mr Tim James-Matthews. I thank both for their clear and cogent submissions. 2. The application concerns now admitted breaches of an interim injunction order made by Sir Anthony Mann, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, dated 26 May 2023. In short, on 3 June 2023 the defendant entered the racetrack at the Epsom Racecourse shortly after the commencement of the Epsom Derby and remained on the race track for about 24 seconds before being removed by the police. The defendant admits that that conduct constituted a breach of paragraphs 1 and 6 of the injunction. 3. The events of 3 June 2023 gave rise to criminal charges on 6 July 2023. The defendant pleaded guilty to one criminal offence of causing a public nuisance contrary to section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, for which he received a suspended custodial sentence of 18 weeks suspended for two years. The defendant admits the breach of the injunction. He has apologised to the court , to the claimant and to those adversely affected by his actions. He has also offered various undertakings both to the claimant and the court, which I shall return to.
4. It follows that the only issue for the court at this hearing is the appropriate sanction to be imposed on the defendant in respect of his admitted contempt of court.
The facts
5. The claimant owns Epsom Racecourse, which hosts the Epsom Derby Festival , a two- day horseracing festival. Mr Newman is an animal rights activist. In his witness statement, he describes himself as being motivated by a profound concern for the welfare of animals and the planet more generally. Mr Newman has been associated with Animal Rising, a direct action protest group. 6. On 22 May 2023 the claimant applied for an interim injunction in anticipation of the 2023 Epsom Derby Festival. This followed disruption at the earlier Grand National, which involved members of Animal Rising, including, it appears, Mr Newman. The defendants to the application before Sir Anthony Mann were Mr Daniel Kidby and various categories of persons unknown. The defendant was not a named defendant to the application.
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