Voting Station

Barry Horne

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Advocate

The Resume

    (March 17, 1952-November 5, 2001)
    Born in Northampton, England, United Kingdom
    Garbage collector turned animal rights activist and arsonist
    Sentenced to 18 years in prison for planting incendiary devices (1997)
    Engaged in a series of hunger strikes while imprisoned
    Longest lasted 68 days (October 6-December 13, 1998)
    Died of liver failure caused by his hunger strikes

Why he might be annoying:

    Before launching his arson campaign, he complained that the animal rights movement had lost its radical edge.
    He caused an estimated £3 million in damages.
    His targets included charity shops supporting cancer research.
    During his 1998 hunger strike, the Animal Liberation Militia threatened to assassinate ten scientists performing animal research if Horne died.
    His later hunger strikes were described as having 'no cohesive strategy' and were so little publicized that no one except the prison guards knew if he was eating.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He set his firebombs to go off at midnight, when the targeted stores would be closed (and hopefully empty).
    He engaged in his longest hunger strike to try to force the government to hold a public inquiry about animal testing, which the Labour Party had pledged to do in its successful 1997 campaign.
    He was willing to die for a cause he believed in.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying