Cancer scientist gets three years for crimes against animal testing

A "BRILLIANT" cancer research scientist threw away a promising career by launching a campaign of intimidation against companies linked to the animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences, a court heard yesterday.

Joseph Harris, a doctor of molecular biology, could not cope with the pressure of working in an industry which tested on animals while holding strict beliefs that lab experiments caused unjustified suffering.

Harris, 26, was jailed for three years yesterday at Northampton Crown Court. He had earlier pled guilty to three counts of interfering with a contractual relationship so as to hurt an animal research organisation.

Jailing him, Judge Ian Alexander said: "You are a highly intelligent and motivated young man but you have developed a warped moral justification as an explanation for your serious criminal acts.

"The fact you are of no previous convictions and high educational status makes it worse."