Circus ringmaster violently attacks BBC reporter
February 2008

Martin Lacey, (right) the owner and ringmaster of the Great British Circus, assaulted a BBC Radio Nottingham reporter, during an interview at the circus which was in Newark at the time.

The unprovoked verbal and physical onslaught began following a few minutes of interview, after the reporter referred to a camel being tethered.

Earlier in the interview, Lacey refers to the recent DEFRA (Dept for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) report on the welfare of animals in circuses. Not surprisingly, his account of the report is full of biased inaccuracies. Please click here for the true situation!

The Great British Circus is currently touring the UK, with tigers, lions, horses, reindeer, zebra and camels, and is one of only 10 circuses that continue to use performing animals in this country.

Listen to the above interview in full (5MB) or the short bleeped version (1MB)

Read a transcript of the final part of the interview here. The expletives (all ten of them in just 76 seconds!) have been censored due to the strong language.

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