Eco-warrior ‘rescues’ pet lobster by taking it from tank and throwing it into the sea
A self-styled eco-warrior who once tried to accost Sir David Attenborough has appeared in court again – this time for causing criminal damage to a lobster.
Emma Smart targeted the Michelin-starred Catch restaurant in Weymouth where she grabbed the crustacean and fled despite staff trying to stop her.
Smart, who is said to ‘care deeply about animals’, struggled with a waitress at Catch telling her ‘I’m taking the lobster. It’s an animal. It needs to be free.’
When the waitress warned she would call the police, Smart replied: ‘I don’t mind’.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard the lobster has been used by the restaurant for more than two years to teach children.
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Prosecutor Ben Thompson said she was spotted waiting outside the restaurant at 9pm on April 10 last year.
He said: ‘When the guests are leaving she comes in and a member of staff attempts to push her out of the property.
‘Eventually Ms Smart makes her way towards the tank that holds the crayfish, which is actually a lobster.
‘Ms Smart reached into the fish tank and took the lobster.’
Despite efforts by several members of staff, she escaped and leaned over a wall before placing it in the harbour, where it was not seen again.
Her barrister, Kitan Ososami said she had acted on impulse.
(Picture: BNPS)
The court heard Smart had previously been jailed for four months in November 2021 following an Insulate Britain climate protest at the same restaurant when she tried to confront Sir David.
This time she was spared jail and given an eight-month conditional discharge.
She was also ordered not to go within 10 metres of the restaurant, or approach staff and guests for the next three years.
Was Emma Smart right to free the lobster?
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Yes, Free Lobby
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Not so smart, Ms Smart
Her Honour Judge Susan Evans said: ‘The lobster was not there for consumption. It was there for educational purposes.
‘You were determined to take it from the tank and you placed it in the harbour.
‘It was a deeply misguided thing to have done.
‘It was not a good thing for the lobster at all and whether or not it survived, we don’t know.’