Six protesters who blocked the Müller distribution centre in Droitwich, UK, in September 2022 have now been acquitted by the Supreme Court on the grounds that “there are no grounds for prosecution”. The blockade took place as part of a large-scale campaign by “Animal Rebellion”, which paralysed the milk supply in the Midlands and the south of England. The “activists” chained themselves to fences or glued themselves to an access road before the police removed them and arrested them after four hours.

The protesters were charged with breaching the peace, and a hearing followed at Worcester Crown Court in June 2025. As the blocked road was a dead end leading only to an industrial estate and clearly marked as private property, the defendants argued that they had not infringed upon the public’s rights in any way. The judge agreed with this view and ruled that there were no grounds for prosecution. The prosecution appealed, and the case reached the Supreme Court, which has now also ruled in favour of an acquittal.

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