Former glamour model Jodie Marsh wept tears of joy today as she won a bitter legal battle to keep eight lemurs at her animal sanctuary.
The ex-lads’ mags favourite, who went on to become a media personality, had appealed against a council’s refusal to grant her a wild animal licence for Fripps Farm in Lindsell, Essex.
Uttlesford District Council blocked the application last year after members claimed she treated the animals there as ‘pets’ after hearing she had taken a baby meerkat and an owl to a pub. There were also concerns about noise.
But Marsh – who uses funds from OnlyFans to pay for the upkeep of more than 400 animals at the sanctuary including emus and reptiles – claimed she was the victim of criticism from online trolls.
She also said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had no concerns about animals in her care following inspections.
The 46-year-old, who trained as a bodybuilder and has appeared on Essex Wives and Celebrity Big Brother, broke down in tears as District Judge Christopher Williams ruled in her favour today at Chelmsford Magistrates Court.
He said: ‘On the basis of the evidence available I am persuaded that the noise made by the lemurs is not a nuisance.
‘I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the decision by Uttlesford District Council was wrong and continues to be wrong. I allow the appeal.’
Marsh, who wore a black blazer, black top and leggings, thanked her lawyer and the judge.
In July last year, councillors said she was ‘not suitable’ to look after animals after hearing how she had taken the meerkat and owl to a local pub.
UDC councillor Richard Freeman told a meeting of its licensing and environmental health committee: ‘The panel is concerned that Jodie Marsh has a perception that the animals in her care are personal pets.’
Video clips of screeching lemurs at a zoo were also played at a previous court hearing and the district council said Marsh had failed to provide a noise nuisance survey.
Ring-tailed lemurs live on ‘troops’ of up to 30 and are known as one of the most vocal primates.
But Paul Oakley, for Marsh, said the council’s ‘conclusion lemurs were likely to contribute to the (noise) impact’ at the five-acre site was ‘speculation’.
Marsh also dismissed concerns about her treatment of animals, explaining she had been ‘hand-rearing’ the meerkat when she took it to a friend’s pub ‘on a few occasions’.
Describing the sanctuary as a ‘dream’ she’d had since she was five years old, she rounded on the trolls, saying: ‘They lash out, they pick on you, as in my case.
‘When I was bodybuilding they trolled me for that, when I was modelling they trolled me for that, now it’s the animals.’
The council received 19 objections from local residents about the licence application.
But the court heard Essex Police, Essex Fire and Rescue Service and the RSPCA had not raised any concerns over the application for the lemurs, an endangered species from Madagascar.
Summing up his findings, Judge Williams said there was ‘considerable animosity between Ms Marsh and the members of the local community’.
But he added: ‘Ms Marsh may not be popular in the surrounding area but, based on the evidence given to this court, I conclude that she is a person who genuinely cares for her animals.
‘Ms Marsh is not, and has not been, responsible for any harm or ill-treatment [of the animals in her care].’
Granting the licence, he also approved an application for costs of £19,641 to be paid to Marsh by Uttlesford District Council.
The council said in a statement after today’s judgement: ‘The decision by councillors to not grant the Dangerous Wild Animals licence was made following careful consideration of both the supporting and opposing evidence in a public process.
‘Whilst we are disappointed with the ruling today, the court has taken a fresh look at it and reached a different conclusion, which we fully accept.’
In 2023, Marsh told BBC Essex that OnlyFans was ‘amazing’ and ‘paid my staff wages for the first year’.
She added: ‘They all joke and say “Your boobs paid our wages”.’
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