Two women have gone on trial accused of intimidating police officers who were due to be witnesses in a case involving protests at Norwich Livestock Market.

Gemma Barnes, 34, and Elena Kenny, 19, face two charges that together with another man they followed, filmed and made derogatory comments towards the officers including accusing them of perjury. 

The allegations follow an incident when the police witnesses were followed and confronted by three people in Tombland following a hearing at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on May 23 last year.

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Barnes, previously of St Leonards Road in Norwich, and Kenny, of Ashleigh Gardens in Wymondham, both deny the charges which state that they intended to obstruct, pervert or interfere with ongoing court proceedings. 

A jury of nine men and three women were sworn in at Norwich Crown Court at the start of a trial expected to take four days.

The entrance to the livestock market has been the scene of long-running protests by animal welfare campaigners. 

Since 2021, police have allowed the protesters to stop livestock trucks on the access road off Hall Road for 30 seconds to film and photograph the condition of the animals in a bid to defuse confrontations.