The whole coordinated approach … was done at a very strategic level with a very large team of people behind it. It wasn’t just me on my own as a spy, it was an enormous group of people. Everything was planned out, so we knew exactly what we were doing and where we were going to be doing it.
When [I attacked] Margaret Ewing’s house, the director of British Airports Authority, it then became political. Once it becomes political … very quickly, you’ll see people getting rounded up
– Adrian Radford
Adrian Radford storms Canterbury Cathedral with Outrage! in 1998.
During a SHAC protest, Radford is escorted from the Japanese embassy.
Radford meets UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an award ceremony
Radford’s surveillance training video ‘Am I Being Watched’
Outside the Royal Courts of Justice
Adrian Radford served in the British Army Intelligence Corps until he was unjustly dismissed in 1996 due to his sexuality. LGBTQ+ citizens have only been allowed to serve in the Armed Forces since 2000.
Following his dismissal, Radford became active in the gay rights movement and campaigned alongside Peter Tatchell at the direct action organisation Outrage! During one action in 1998 he stormed the pulpit of Archbishop Michael Carey at Canterbury Cathedral deploring his support of anti-gay discrimination: in particular, his opposition to an equal age of consent and to gay marriage.
In 2004, Radford gained employment as a security analyst with a leading security and risk management company. The company was hired by a consortium of Japanese pharmaceutical and chemical companies to gather intelligence on the SHAC campaign. Radford’s role was to collate open source information about SHAC, such as upcoming protests and other campaign news.
Former colleagues say Radford was struggling financially, and seemed to be on his own mission. He left his job as an analyst, and ‘infiltrated’ SHAC for the police.
In September 2004 Radford attended the International Animal Rights Gathering in Kent, UK, and quickly befriended SHAC co-founder Natasha Avery. He soon began volunteering with SHAC full time, and claimed to become ‘number 3′ in the campaign.
Perhaps coincidentally, at the time Radford joined SHAC, the National Association of Pension Funds were offering a £25million reward for anyone who could inform on the campaign.
Using what he called ‘ingenuitive’ tactics, Radford organised a string of direct action protests against HLS customers, which involved office occupations, storming conferences, and a mass mobilisation and disruption at Heathrow Airport over their role in the live import of laboratory animals.
After failing to find incriminating evidence against SHAC, Radford’s deployment took a new direction. He recruited two activists to help him raid a chicken farm. He later admitted during a Dutch TV interview:
‘It was myself that set up the operation. Nobody [in the animal rights movement] would help me, nobody would give me any guidance whatsoever.’
Following the chicken liberation, he bought a second hand car and filmed himself covering it in paint stripper in an apparent attempt to impress his new Animal Liberation Front (ALF) cell.
A few months later, the police directed Radford to damage fourteen vehicles belonging to people connected to the importation of laboratory animals. In an interview with The Times, Radford admits purchasing the equipment used in the attack, researching targets, and driving his team between them. He says the police deliberately chose his targets due to their political nature and the fall out that would follow:
‘The whole coordinated approach … was done at a very strategic level with a very large team of people behind it. It wasn’t just me on my own as a spy, it was an enormous group of people. Everything was planned out, so we knew exactly what we were doing and where we’re going to be doing it.
When [I attacked] Margaret Ewing’s house, the director of British Airports Authority, it then became political. Once it becomes political … very quickly, you’ll see people getting rounded up.’
In 2007, Radford told activists he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had to depart from the animal rights movement.
It is not known how many ALF attacks Radford organised and carried out during his three year deployment.
Radford’s deployment in SHAC was not disclosed during the criminal trials and to this day the Crown Prosecution Service maintain that they cannot confirm nor deny his involvement.
Adrian Radford served in the British Army Intelligence Corps until he was unjustly dismissed in 1996 due to his sexuality. LGBTQ+ citizens have only been allowed to serve in the Armed Forces since 2000.
Following his dismissal, Radford became active in the gay rights movement and campaigned alongside Peter Tatchell at the direct action organisation Outrage! During one action in 1998 he stormed the pulpit of Archbishop Michael Carey at Canterbury Cathedral deploring his support of anti-gay discrimination: in particular, his opposition to an equal age of consent and to gay marriage.
Adrian Radford storms Canterbury Cathedral with Outrage! in 1998.
In 2004, Radford gained employment as a security analyst with a leading security and risk management company. The company was hired by a consortium of Japanese pharmaceutical and chemical companies to gather intelligence on the SHAC campaign. Radford’s role was to collate open source information about SHAC, such as upcoming protests and other campaign news.
Former colleagues say Radford was struggling financially, and seemed to be on his own mission. He left his job as an analyst, and ‘infiltrated’ SHAC for the police.
In September 2004 Radford attended the International Animal Rights Gathering in Kent, UK, and quickly befriended SHAC co-founder Natasha Avery. He soon began volunteering with SHAC full time, and claimed to become ‘number 3′ in the campaign.
Perhaps coincidentally, at the time Radford joined SHAC, the National Association of Pension Funds were offering a £25million reward for anyone who could inform on the campaign.
Using what he called ‘ingenuitive’ tactics, Radford organised a string of direct action protests against HLS customers, which involved office occupations, storming conferences, and a mass mobilisation and disruption at Heathrow Airport over their role in the live import of laboratory animals.
During a SHAC protest, Radford is escorted from the Japanese embassy.
After failing to find incriminating evidence against SHAC, Radford’s deployment took a new direction. He recruited two activists to help him raid a chicken farm. He later admitted during a Dutch TV interview:
‘It was myself that set up the operation. Nobody [in the animal rights movement] would help me, nobody would give me any guidance whatsoever.’
Following the chicken liberation, he bought a second hand car and filmed himself covering it in paint stripper in an apparent attempt to impress his new Animal Liberation Front (ALF) cell.
A few months later, the police directed Radford to damage fourteen vehicles belonging to people connected to the importation of laboratory animals. In an interview with The Times, Radford admits purchasing the equipment used in the attack, researching targets, and driving his team between them. He says the police deliberately chose his targets due to their political nature and the fall out that would follow:
‘The whole coordinated approach … was done at a very strategic level with a very large team of people behind it. It wasn’t just me on my own as a spy, it was an enormous group of people. Everything was planned out, so we knew exactly what we were doing and where we’re going to be doing it.
When [I attacked] Margaret Ewing’s house, the director of British Airports Authority, it then became political. Once it becomes political … very quickly, you’ll see people getting rounded up.’
Radford meets UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at an award ceremony
In 2007, Radford told activists he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had to depart from the animal rights movement.
It is not known how many ALF attacks Radford organised and carried out during his three year deployment.
Radford’s deployment in SHAC was not disclosed during the criminal trials and to this day the Crown Prosecution Service maintain that they cannot confirm nor deny his involvement.
Radford’s surveillance training video ‘Am I Being Watched’
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