Dorset activist Emma Smart banned from Michelin restaurant after ‘freeing’ educational pet lobster
An animal rights activist who “released” a live lobster from a luxury seafood restaurant and dumped it in a harbor has been banned from entering within 10 meters of the restaurant.
Marine biologist Emma Smart, 47, stormed into Catch at the Old Fish Market in Weymouth, Dorset, as guests were leaving.
He headed straight for an aquarium, grabbed a crustacean, and, despite attempts by two staff members to intervene, dashed past them to exit the building.
He then released the creature into the nearby harbor, its survival thereafter unknown.
However, it turned out that the lobster had been owned by restaurant owner Anthony Cooper for two and a half years and was not intended to be sold, but instead was for “educational” purposes for visiting children.
The Catch at the Old Fish Market is a Michelin Guide restaurant that has previously hosted diners such as Sir David Attenborough.
Smart, described as someone who “cared deeply about animals”, admitted criminal damage to a lobster when he appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court.
The Crown Prosecution Service gave no evidence of charges of assault or inflicting unnecessary suffering on a protected animal in connection with allegations that Smart pushed a staff member.
It has been noted that while some crayfish species are endangered and protected, lobsters are not.
Prosecutor Ben Thompson said: “At 9pm on April 10 last year the defendant was waiting outside the entrance to the restaurant. He entered as guests were leaving and a member of staff tried to push him off the property.
“Finally, Ms. Smart moves towards the tank containing the crayfish, which is actually a lobster. This tank had belonged to restaurant owner Anthony Cooper for two and a half years and was not for sale, but for educational purposes for children to visit.”
“Ms Smart reached into the aquarium and picked up the lobster. Many staff tried to stop her but she went and leaned over a wall before placing it in the harbour, the lobster was never seen again.”
Defending, Kitan Ososami said Smart made an “impulsive” decision after seeing the lobster in the tank.
He added: “He acted on impulse. He cares deeply about animals and marine welfare and that was the driving factor behind committing this offence.”
Smart, formerly of Rodwell Street, Weymouth, and now based in West Wales, was given an eight-month conditional discharge.
The judge also issued a restraining order for three years, banning him from coming within 10 meters of the restaurant or approaching restaurant staff or guests.
Honor Judge Susan Evans told Smart: “The lobster was not there for consumption. It was there for educational purposes.”
“You were determined to take him from the tank and put him in the harbour. This was the wrong thing to do. It wasn’t good for the lobster and we don’t know if he survived.”
This incident wasn’t Smart’s first encounter with the restaurant. He previously appeared in court over an incident in 2022 in which he tried to break in to speak to Sir David Attenborough and urged him to support climate activists in prison.
He was cleared of a charge of failing to comply with a dismissal order after a judge ruled he had not been given enough time to comply.
Smart was also sentenced to four months in prison in November 2021 following the Insulate Britain climate protest.
