The animal-rights protester killed during a demonstration against the export of veal calves at Coventry airport had been a committed activist with a history of militant protest. Jill Phipps, who fell under the wheels of a delivery lorry on Wednesday, had dedicated her life to the cause of animal rights, her boyfriend Justin Timson said.
"I am heartbroken to have lost her, but she would be happy to know this will just make people more determined to end the abuse of animals in this country," he said.
As Mr Timson, 26, told of their shared passion for animals, it emerged that Ms Phipps, 31, had been given a two-year suspended prison sentence in 1986 for her part in a raid on a Unilever factory in 1984. The former post office clerk from Coventry took part in the animal-rights raid with her mother, Nancy, and sister, Lesley. The three women and 25 other protesters, who caused รบ14,000 of damage to the headquarters of the food and soap-powder conglomerate in Bedford, were described as "the enemies of society" by Judge Wild at Leicester Crown Court. Mrs Phipps, 68, who was protesting with her daughter when she died, had received a six-month jail sentence. Lesley Phipps, 28, had been sentenced to six months' youth custody. The three women were convicted of conspiracy to burgle.
As the Police Complaints Authority began an inquiry into Wednesday's accident, Warwickshire Police said the lorry driver had been traumatised by Ms Phipps's death. "He is very distressed by this tragic incident," a police spokeswoman said. "We understand he had slowed down as much as he could when the accident happened." The driver was not being identified for his own safety.
Commercial veal exports from Coventry airport resumed earlier this week on Phoenix Aviation flights, a month after one of the airline's flights crashed, killing five people.
Ms Phipps, who was taken by her mother to her first animal-rights demonstration at a fur farm at the age of 11, was among those who blamed Christopher Barrett-Jolley, director of Phoenix Aviation, for the crash. She was quoted in a local newspaper as saying: "This whole disaster is down to Barrett-Jolley's greed. If he had not been exporting live animals, this plane would not have been in Coventry. I don't feel sorry for the dead people. The only people I feel sorry for are the families whose relatives died."
Ms Phipps, mother of nine-year-old Luke, became a vegetarian at the age of 11 and later a vegan. She had travelled the country in a white van attending protests against blood sports. She founded the Coventry Animal Alliance ten years ago with her mother and was delighted when her son announced last week that he wanted to follow in her footsteps and become a vegan.
Mr Timson, who met Ms Phipps five years ago when they worked on a hop farm in Kent, broke the news of her death to Luke. "He is a really good kid, a real credit to Jill," he said. "She went through a lot of hard times bringing him up. Now he has to go through the rest of his life without a mum. I am going to bring him up now. It is the least I can do."
Mr Timson said Ms Phipps would be happy that exports of veal calves from Coventry had now stopped. "She would almost be willing to sacrifice her life just for that. That's how caring and unselfish she was.".
Mr Timson, who was born in Melbourne, Australia, and runs his own business making didgeridoos, broke down in tears as he spoke of his girlfriend's dedication to her lifelong cause.
"A lot of people say they should not take the law into their own hands and smash things up. But throughout history it has taken violent protest to change things."
Ms Phipps, who had lived on benefit since the birth of Luke, shared her council home with Mr Timson, the couple's two dogs, Spider and Lucy, and two pet rats, called Krishna and Buddha. After her marriage to Luke's father, Alan Cockrell, broke up, she lived in a series of squats while her mother and father, Robert, a retired postman, lived on a canal boat.
Mrs Phipps said yesterday: "I am totally heartbroken. I still cannot believe my daughter is dead. She was such a bright girl. She never gave me a minute's unhappiness and she did not deserve to die."
Mr Phipps, 70, said he was devastated by his daughter's death. "Jill couldn't stand injustices and devoted her life to that cause. It was something about cruelty to animals that really touched a nerve with Jill. She felt very deeply about it."
Ms Phipps, who left Lyng Hall school in Coventry at the age of 16, had a promising school career and could have gone on to university, the school's headmistress, Jane McGinn, said. Her school records show that she was well above average and excelled at English and art. She gained impressive school results and could easily have gone on to the sixth form or beyond. "Jill was never going to end up doing something ordinary. She wanted to change the world for the better. While she was at school, she displayed none of the anarchistic streak that must have later developed," Ms McGinn said.
The manager of a Channel port engaged in the livestock trade announced his resignation yesterday and accused the port's board of capitulating to animal-rights activists.
Philip Lacey, general manager of the Shoreham Port Authority in West Sussex, the scene of almost nightly clashes between police and protesters, said his decision had been prompted by an order from the local district council prohibiting further animal shipments from midnight on Saturday.
"My view is we have a good legal defence against the order, but the clear majority view of my board is the livestock trade should end. This brought matters to a head."
