Trish Barlow

Affiliations: Cheshire Animal Rights Campaign

Location: Northwich, Cheshire

Trish Barlow plays a leading role in the Cheshire Animal Rights Campaign, a group that regularly targets local trail hunts. Based in Northwich, Barlow has become increasingly active over the past few seasons, gaining notoriety not just for her persistent presence in the field, but also for her conduct of it.

Described by one local source as “a very nasty character”, Barlow has faced serious allegations relating to her behaviour, particularly around private property and family homes. At the end of the 2022/2023 hunt season, Barlow was reportedly taken into a police station and issued with a warning after she was caught harassing hunt staff at their residences.

In one especially troubling incident, Barlow was caught filming Cheshire huntsman Ollie Finnigan and his young children playing in their garden. Though no charges were brought, the police warning speaks to a pattern of behaviour that many in the rural community see as invasive and inappropriate. It’s not about foxes when you’re peering through someone’s fence and hiding behind trees.

Barlow's role within the Cheshire Animal Rights Campaign goes beyond fieldwork. She is a prolific videographer and often uses the footage she captures to launch highly personal online attacks against named individuals and families. As admin for the group’s Facebook page, Barlow controls much of its public messaging, though "messaging" might be a generous term for what often reads like an angry diary. Her posts are frequently vulgar in tone and regularly cross the line between protest and targeted harassment.

Barlow’s online activity suggests a close association with notorious sab and convicted criminal  Paul Allman, who is a regular presence in the comment sections of her posts. Allman is linked to the aggressive Stockport Monitors, a group known for their aggressive behaviour  and multiple assault convictions.

On 8 December 2023, Allman was handed a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) by Cheshire Magistrates’ Court following multiple incidents of anti-social behaviour at trail hunts across Cheshire and North Wales. The same year he was sentenced to 20 weeks’ imprisonment for violently assaulting two members of the Wynnstay Hunt, breaking one of the hunt supporters’ jaw.

Watch out Barlow, you might have dodged serious consequences this time, but keeping company with the likes of Allman could land you in far deeper trouble.

Barlow’s habit of filming children and nosying around private property has alarmed many and drawn criticism, even from those who might otherwise be sympathetic to the broader cause of animal welfare.

While Barlow claims to be campaigning in the name of animal rights, her tactics continue to raise serious questions about boundaries, privacy, and the use of personal footage for online targeting. For many in the local community, her actions feel less like protest and more like harassment dressed up as activism.