An animal rights activist who attempted to 'liberate' a lobster by stealing it from a restaurant and throwing it into the sea has claimed she was the victim of a police 'witch-hunt' after being convicted of criminal damage.
Eco-warrior Emma Smart, 47, stormed into Catch at the Old Fish Market in Weymouth, Dorset, and 'freed' the crustacean, which she believed was going to be eaten. However, the creature was not on the menu and was kept in a tank as a pet for 'educational purposes'. It would likely have died the moment it hit the cold water in the harbour.
Restaurateur Sean Cooper called marine biologist Smart 'ignorant' and also blamed her for a second tragedy: the lobster's tankmate died of loneliness shortly afterwards.
Smart was convicted of criminal damage and given an eight-month conditional discharge, as well as a ban from going within ten metres of the restaurant for the next three years. Now the activist has doubled down on her crime, which she described as a 'crustacean jailbreak', and criticised Mr Cooper for his efforts to bring her to justice.
Smart said her 'small, spontaneous act of kindness' was a 'necessary win against a system that is driving our oceans and our planet to collapse'. Mr Cooper said the two crustaceans were pets kept by his Michelin Guide eaterie, affectionately named Ronnie and Reggie.
Smart rushed into the restaurant on April 10 last year and grabbed one from the warm water tank before throwing it into the harbour 'like a cricket ball'. The activist had been seen lurking outside the venue moments before, with an eye on the warm water tank.
Video footage captured the moment the eco-warrior tussled with a member of staff to get to the tank. When a waitress opened the front door to allow two customers to leave, the 47-year-old barged in and told her she was 'taking the lobster' as it 'needed to be free'.
Losing their grip, the loyal staff member pushed Smart away and jumped between the lobster and intruder, keeping their arms raised against the marine biologist, who wore a rainbow-coloured jumper. Pushing her opponent away with her right arm, Smart plunged her left hand into the tank and grabbed one of the crayfish before storming out of the restaurant, beast in hand. She then marched outside and threw it into the harbour.
Mr Cooper said the CCTV footage of the incident was unambiguous and that he had told the police and CPS he wanted the book thrown at Smart. Smart has now taken to social media to criticise Mr Cooper and Dorset Police for prosecuting her, accusing authorities of a 'bizarre witch-hunt' against her.
Smart admitted that she was at a 'dark low' and in the midst of a 'mental health crisis' when she 'liberated that single miserable lobster' from the restaurant. She claimed she had her flat raided by four police officers, before being stripped naked, searched, and then held in police custody for 12 hours. Smart then took aim at Mr Cooper, accusing him of throwing a 'legal tantrum' after the lobster was freed by a 'peaceful female scientist'.
She said: 'What a selfless "Community Champion"- forcing the public to pay for his therapy-by-litigation while he hawks £95 tasting menus to a town that can barely afford the bus fare. It must be such a terrifyingly small, exhausting world to live in when a single act of mercy makes your blood boil faster than your bisque.'
In her online rant, Smart made no apology and did not express any sympathy for the two animals which are reported to have died from the incident. Mr Cooper said the video evidence speaks for itself and clearly showed the 'assault and aggression on both the animal and female member of staff by Emma Smart'.
Although she was initially charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, theft, and assault, the CPS accepted a plea to a lesser charge of criminal damage and decided not to proceed on the other charges. She was given an eight-month conditional discharge and banned from going within ten metres of the restaurant for the next three years.
A spokesperson for Dorset Police said that a 'proportionate investigation was carried out'. They said: 'At around 9pm on Thursday 10 April 2025, it was reported that a woman entered Catch at The Old Fish Market in Custom House Quay in Weymouth when the business was closed to the general public. A member of staff asked the woman to leave, but it was reported that she pushed them and took a lobster out of a water tank before leaving and throwing it into the harbour nearby. We will investigate all reported incidents and a proportionate investigation was carried out into what happened. On Monday 21 April 2025, a 48-year-old woman from Weymouth was arrested in connection with the incident. Following consultation with the CPS, she was subsequently charged on Tuesday 27 May 2025 and appeared at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 25 June 2025.'
Mr Cooper previously revealed the victim was in fact a crayfish, a species usually found in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean, that had been caught with its tankmate by fisherman in the English Channel and donated to the restaurant. The owner kept the pair in a tank at the front of the restaurant for educational purposes. Mr Cooper hit out at the decision to accept a plea to a lesser charge. He said: 'To have those charges effectively dropped in favour of a minor plea is very hard to accept.'
Mr Cooper said he did not support a change to the charges and that he was supposed to have a meeting with the police to discuss it further which never materialised. He said: 'We're glad the public can now see clearly what happened that night - the forced entry, the assault on a young female member of staff and the deliberate theft of the crayfish. The travesty of the whole thing is that the animal will have died the second it hit the water. The force with which Emma Smart threw the animal into the harbour would almost certainly have killed it. She has thrown it in an overarm throw, like a cricket ball. There was no gentle release, she has thrown it with great force. The temperature in the tank is vastly different from in the harbour. The sudden change in water temperature alone, that thermal shock will have killed that animal. It's the aggravated nature of this that makes it so distressing. I don't know enough about animals, but the other crayfish died relatively soon after - I don't know if the loss of its mate had an impact on that. They were an unusual species, more commonly found in the Mediterranean, that's why it was in the tank. The reason we have the tank is to attract families into a fishmongers and give them a point of interest to learn more.'
Mr Cooper said Catch was a world-leading restaurant for sustainable fish and seafood sourcing and that Smart's campaign against it was 'as misguided as it is damaging.' He added: 'What's particularly frustrating is that Emma Smart is directing her anger at entirely the wrong target. Weymouth's fishing fleet is recognised globally for the way it operates. Catch, working alongside Weyfish, has been identified by the Sustainable Restaurant Association as the world-leading restaurant for sustainable fish and seafood sourcing. The values she claims to hold are, in large part, the values we live by. Her campaign against us is as misguided as it is damaging.'
Ben Thompson, prosecuting, told Bournemouth Crown Court: 'At 9pm the defendant was waiting outside the entrance of the restaurant. 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. It had belonged to the restaurant owner Mr Cooper for two-and-a-half years and was not for sale but instead for educational reasons when children visit. Ms Smart reached into the fish tank and took the lobster. Multiple members of staff tried to stop her but she left and leaned over a wall before placing it in the harbour, with the lobster not seen again.'
Defending, Kitan Ososami said Ms Smart made an 'impulsive' decision to take the lobster after seeing it in the tank. She said: 'She acted on impulse. She cares very deeply about animals and marine welfare and this was the driving factor behind her committing this offence.'
Smart, previously of Rodwell Street, Weymouth, now lives in West Wales. 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.'
It was not the first time Smart, a marine biologist, had targeted Catch. In 2022, the police were called when she tried to barge her way in to speak to veteran broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who was dining there after filming with a production crew. She was calling on Sir David to support climate activists in prison and refused to leave when asked. Smart shouted at him: 'The town I love, Weymouth, will be underwater and you sit there in this restaurant having dinner.' Staff blocked her from climbing the stairs to the second floor where Sir David was sitting before calling the police. Smart was carried from the premises and arrested for failing to comply with a Section 35 order under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to disperse from the area. Police who had been called to the eatery were worried about the impact the shouting would have on the elderly naturalist and asked Smart to leave. Smart denied a charge of disturbance and was found not guilty following a trial in 2023.
