Rakim Sharkey, 31, could have spent the rest of his life in prison for sex trafficking three people — two of whom were children. But in 2023 a prosecutor with Ken Paxton’s office let the man plead gui...

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Rosa Sharkey, Sarah Foy and Rose Patterson were found guilty of theft last week

Larry Sharkey's photo appeared on the Sep. 30, 1959, Los Angeles Times Sports section front page.

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Three activists who have been found guilty of the theft of King Charles's sheep from his Sandringham Estate have spoken out for the first time since their verdict. Rosa Sharkey, Sarah Foy, both 26, and Rose Patterson, 37, stood before Norwich Crown Court last week, where a jury of five men and seven women unanimously decided the trio were guilty of stealing three lambs from the King. ### The group had admitted to taking the sheep, but denied theft because the King "would have consented to the lambs' rescue", insisting that the daring operation "wasn't a stunt - it was a rescue." The activist said that the group hoped to "open [the King's] eyes" to the "reality of sheep farming". ### TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say ### Over the weekend, the three women, who are part of Animal Rising, an activist group aiming to protect animals and end factory farming, took to Instagram to break their silence following the guilty verdict. Ms Foy said the decision felt like a "punch in the gut," while Ms Patterson said she took part in the "lamb rescue" to "save some lives". The group's social media accounts said the sheep had been taken on May 24, 2023, naming the lambs Sammy, Sunny and Sooty. This weekend, they confirmed the animals were still alive. ### ### ### Ms Patterson said they wanted to make it a "national conversation" to talk about "all the other animals, all the other lambs that we had to leave behind - because, unfortunately, we couldn't rescue every one". The activists are said to have travelled to the farm and met by a driver in a small van, before gaining access to the field by climbing over "a low electric fence." The driver of the van did not go to trial. After they spent the morning sitting among the flock, allowing the young animals to grow accustomed to their presence, they loaded three lambs into the vehicle and departed at approximately 8pm - some 12 hours after their arrival. ### LATEST ROYAL NEWS * Princess Alexandra's last-minute withdrawal from event sparks concern for her health * Mike Tindall opens up on heartbreaking final days with his father Phil amid Parkinson's battle * Barbara Walters 'told about King's alleged Diana remark', Earl Spencer claims ### ### ### ### "This was an open rescue," Ms Foy explained. "An open rescue means you do it completely accountably, you don't try to hide what you do. "We informed the authorities that we were taking the sheep and taking them to a sanctuary." However, in court, the group deliberately kept the location of the sanctuary a secret. Ms Sharkey explained: "I knew if I did know and I did tell them, the lambs would be taken back for slaughter." ### ### Aside from the whereabouts of the lamb's new home, she told the court the group "wanted to be open about what we had done so that the facts were out there." And explaining to the group's 104,000 Instagram followers, Ms Patterson said: "I felt that we needed to go in and directly rescue and save some lives, so I knew for definite we had saved some lives." Ms Foy added: "It was nice knowing that those lambs wouldn't have to be sent to slaughter because of what we did, and because of the rescue." ### **Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**