Press Releases & Updates 2001

Ulla (47), from Odense in Denmark, appeared today from custody in Dumbarton Sheriff Court after being arrested yesterday during a blockade of the nuclear warhead depot at Coulport. Last week Helensburgh District Court applied a special bail condition forbidding her from being within 25 metres of the Faslane and Coulport bases. In April she spray-painted a Trident submarine in the "high security" berths at Faslane and she was one of the Trident Three famously acquitted in Greenock Sheriff Court after disarming the Trident research barge Maytime in June 1999.

Sheriff Fitzsimmons granted bail on the grounds that Ulla had never failed to appear for any court hearing. Astonishingly, the Crown representative, the Procurator Fiscal, did not raise any objection to bail during the hearing itself but lodged its appeal immediately afterwards. The appeal will be heard in the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday. Meanwhile Ulla is remanded to Cornton Vale Women’s Prison in Stirling.

Trident Ploughshares member Marjan Willemsen said: "I am outraged that someone who has not been found guilty, has no previous convictions and poses no danger to the public can be imprisoned for three days without trial."

Meanwhile, in the same court the case against another TP activist was thrown out when a police witness identified the wrong person. Mark Leech (34), from Edinburgh was appearing on a charge of breach of the peace arising from the Big Blockade of Faslane in February. On that occasion Mark’s affinity group, the "Ceilidh Creatures" had transformed themselves into a spaceship to block the gateway to the base and there is speculation that the witness expected to see an alien in court, a theory that does not completely please Ludwig Appeltans from Gent in Belgium who was sitting in the public benches and was identified instead.

Printer friendly version

Home | Top