Benjamin Zephaniah writes that Mann is viewed as a cause célèbre within the global animal rights movement. He first came to widespread public attention in 1994, after being sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for setting meat lorries on fire, one of the longest sentences to be handed down to an animal rights activist. Mann escaped from Stretford prison, and was later found at an animal sanctuary run by model Celia Hammond, who had unwittingly given Mann and his girlfriend jobs at the sanctuary, unaware that they were on the run.