An animal rights extremist whose victims of threats included a Burton veterinary practice used by Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch, has had her sentence lengthened to two years. Deborah Morrison (35), dispatched dozens of emails and letters - some containing white powder - during a five-year nationwide campaign. Most of the victims had or have had connections with animal research organisations. Many of the messages were signed with the Animal Liberation Front’s initials, ALF. The Burton practice, which has not been named by police, received threatening letters, one containing white powder, which were linked to Morrison by DNA evidence. The practice was used by Darley Oaks Farm, which bred guinea pigs for research until 2006. Morrison, from Dorchester, Dorset, pleaded guilty to six charges of blackmail and one of attempted blackmail. She also admitted three charges of interference with a contractual relationship, so as to harm an animal research organisation, and two of attempted interference. She was jailed for eight months in November at Stafford Crown Court. Staffordshire Police appealed against the length of sentence which was increased to two years at the Court of Appeal in London on Monday. Inspector David Bird, head of the force’s public order and protest unit, said: “Morrison was involved in serious crime over several years in the name of animal rights. Her offences affected dozens of people and their families throughout the country. The increased sentence given today reflects the impact Morrison’s crime had on her victims”. Morrison was arrested in August 2006 by officers of the unit after she sent threatening emails to a Lichfield-based transport firm, who she wrongly believed had a contract with a breeder of research animals in Humberside. Her DNA and fingerprints were added to national databases and her computer was taken for forensic examination. As a result, the investigation widened to include seven other forces and also involved the Association of Chief Police Officers’ National Domestic Extremism Team. | 
