Two animal rights activists facing criminal charges over protests at Norwich Livestock Market abused two police officers to intimidate them, a court has heard.
Gemma Barnes, 34, and Elena Kenny, 19, are on trial accused of following, filming and making a string of derogatory comments towards the officers including accusing them of lying in court proceedings.
Norwich Crown Court was told Sergeant Kelly Larkin and PC Dean Horgan had been attending a hearing at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on May 23 last year in which the two women were defendants.
Oliver Haswell, prosecuting, said the officers had been “bombarded with slurs, accusations and comments” about their involvement in the case with the “intention to intimidate”.
CCTV footage shown in court showed the officers being surrounded and confronted by two women and a man filming on their phones after being followed into Tombland and Queen Street.
He added: “Is that the actions of people minding their own business or are they like a pack of hyenas circling their prey?”
The jury was also shown video footage taken by Sgt Larkin in which she could be heard repeatedly telling the trio “you are causing me distress please leave me alone”.
PC Dean Horgan told the court they had also been confronted in the court building.
The man, who is not on trial, had been very “aggressive and confrontational” and had covered part of his face with a mask, he said.
Barnes had accused police of being “fascist pigs” and “Nazis” and of acting “like North Korea”, he added.
Kenny had also looked up the officer's identity and his family links to Lincolnshire on her phone, the court was told.
Asked how this had made him feel, PC Horgan said: “I was worried about my safety and my family’s safety and made me rethink whether I wanted to be involved with any other investigations involving them.”
Barnes, previously of St Leonards Road in Norwich, and Kenny, of Ashleigh Gardens in Wymondham, both deny the charges of intimidation intended to obstruct, pervert or interfere with ongoing court proceedings.
The trial continues.
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