'The industry will be destroyed': Vegan activist plans to expand operation after calf theft conviction

An animal rights activist, who avoided jail after being convicted of stealing a calf, has detailed his plan to expand his operation interstate.

James Warden's crew of animal rights activists, Direct Action Everywhere, are looking to recruit members in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

"We haven't learned lessons in terms of regressing on our actions - we've learned lessons in terms of the operations of our opposition," Mr Warden said.

"The industry should be scared, and as I mentioned, the industry will be destroyed."

Warden is planning to start a law degree after he copped a 12-month suspended sentence yesterday for stealing Theo the calf.

Police seized his data and bugged his phone in the months after Theo was stolen from a Brunswick farm.

But Mr Warden does not believe his clashes with the law will hinder his study.

"There's definitely hundreds of lawyers who have criminal records," he said.

The controversial activist says strangers stop him in the street to hurl abuse. He also told 9News he believes his phone calls are still being bugged and that he regularly sees police following him.

Despite that, he said he was "not at all" scared of going back to court.