After Jill's death and the establishment of the camps at Coventry, things got very active. Protestors came from all over the UK and even from Europe to help. People chained themselves across the road, to lorries, to the gates and in Justin's case ... even to the plane. Vigils and demos took place at the airport, at council and court offices and at Barret-Jolleys house.

Everyday hundreds of Police from the Warwickshire and the West Midlands forces were in attendance to force through the convoys. Hundreds of arrests were made (over 300 in total) and the national and local media were in constant attendance ... Newsnight even broadcast live from the top camp one evening.

Alongside the young activists (who were mainly experienced hunt sabs, animal rights and environmental activists) there appeared the so-called "Granarchists". These Granarchists were older people (normally from a more mainstream background than the younger more crusty activists) who had seen what was happening, been touched by Jill's death and the plight of the calves ... and they weren't going to stand by and let it continue! The strength of feeling and action from the Granarchists took the Police by complete suprise and caused them much annoyance. The social background of the Granarchists also helped by limiting the more extreme Police behaviour ... at the time they couldn't just beat up a Granny (although since then they've learned). Many of the Granarchists became deeply radicalised by the campaign and have gone on to become the back bone of much of the UK's animal rights activities.

This constant activity had an effect on both Protestors and Police ... the courts implemented a "three arrests and then you were bailed away from the airport" policy and this led to smaller numbers of Protestors as more and more were bailed away from the protest.

Tactics changed to a more cat and mouse approach, the bottom campers especially became adept at causing chaos and panic to the Police with small numbers of committed activists and some imagination.

The Police meanwhile were running out of money due to the massive manpower they were using to force the convoys through. This meant they could no longer commit enough men to ensure the convoys of calves got through as frequently as Barret-Jolley wanted. When he tried to sneak an early morning convoy in without Police protection ... Protestors stopped it and chained themselves all over the lorry ... requiring the Police to come out and arrest them all ... the Police were not pleased with Barret-Jolley and afterwards no convoys came in unaccompanied by the Police. This was one of the first major victories in the campaign.

At this point the Protestors were in a war of attrition with the Police which lasted for several months. In the end the Protestors' sheer persistance began to wear down the resolve and finances of the Police and we started to win ... in truth it wouldn't have mattered if the Police hadn't begun to crack at that point ... because we would have continued on as long as neccessary.

Under constant intense pressure from the protestors, the Police forced Barret-Jolley to cut the number of flights to 3 a day 5 days a week, then 3 a day only for 3 days a week, then 1 a day for 3 days a week in the end when they went down to 1 flight a week ... it was no longer economic for Barret-Jolley and he suspended flights.

In effect the protestors had destroyed Phoenix aviation by pressurising the Police to such an extent that they could no longer afford to support it ... we beat the Police, the Government (who could have stopped the exports at any time), the courts who tried to intimidate us and Barret-Jolley the evil scum-bag who should never have been allowed to start the flights in the first place.

Warwickshire Police were most affected by their defeat at Coventry Airport ... afterwards they had so little money left that they had to put a maximum mileage of 90 miles/day on all their patrol cars until the next financial year. This clearly shows how the Government were willing to ignore the needs of the many normal residents of Warwickshire in order to support the financial interests of a few farmers.

Although it began in tragedy, the Coventry Live Exports campaign ended in a searing victory that exposed the hypocrisy of our rulers and kick started the campaigns against Gilders, Consort and Hillgrove amongst others and continues to inspire to this day.

It saw hundreds of "normal" people get involved, defy the state, get arrested, become vegan and stand up for their beliefs.

This is Jill's legacy ... she made people think and then she inspired them to act!

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