Press Releases & Updates 2001

Another Big Blockader, Mark Ruggeri from Kilmarnock, got off when one police witness identified someone else and then changed his mind and the second witness could not identify anyone. Local activist Vincent West was not so lucky. He told the court he had been hemmed into the gateway by the police cordon and could not get away but he did admit he had been sitting down. A hefty £200 fine. This was odd because earlier the JP had only admonished two Big Blockaders, Maria Nikita and Elise Christensen, who had pled guilty by letter.

A warrant was issued for Philip Pritchard from Oxford, who was due to be tried today and who wrote to the Procurator Fiscal: "As much as I would like to be with you and explain my reasons for wanting Faslane to be shut permanently it is a long journey from Oxford and I am very busy. I am writing to say that I intend to be back at the base in October to make a similar protest and would be happy to meet then to discuss the matter further." (Roger Franklin got a same response on Monday to a similar letter.

Over in Edinburgh Sheriff Court Joy Mitchell, who had come all the way from Berwick on Tweed to be tried for the Scottish Parliament demo, was informed that it was being put off until 13th December. She told the Sheriff that as a former headteacher she had expected her school to be run efficiently and she expected the same standards from the courts. The Sheriff said criminal justice was different and it was difficult to plan to cover all eventualities. Things got dafter when Pamela Smith, in the public seats, was told to remove her headband. She understandably demanded a reason for this bizarre request and she was taken out and detained for two hours. Apparently no headgear is allowed in court! The court officers in Edinburgh Sheriff seem to be a law unto themselves and at the earlier plea hearing for the "Democratic Dozen" attempted to ban note-taking in the public seats. Pamela was not charged with anything during this dodgy procedure.

But the accolade of Prize Legal Curiosity of the Day goes to Sheriff Fitzsimmons at Dumbarton Sheriff Court. Ulla Roder had the day out of Cornton vale to attend an Intermediate diet for one of her many cases. She was attended by a Danish interpreter but the Sheriff got it into his mind that this was all a time wasting ploy. He demanded that Ulla speak to him in English so that he could judge for himself whether an interpreter was necessary. Ulla explained that Scottish accents and legal jargon meant that much of what was said in court went over her head and he grudgingly let the interpreter take part. For many years now training has been available for Scottish sheriffs on the need for fair language access in courts, and a basic part of that training covers the need to understand that a socially functional level of English does not necessarily mean that the person can cope with a hearing on an equal basis. He got shirty again when proceedings were held up as Ulla asked to see the charge sheet, from which one of the charges had been removed. The Sheriff said "I am not used to playing this sort of game."Well, it’s not a game to us either but he’s going to have to get used to it..."

Printer friendly version

Home | Top