Press Releases & Updates 2001

The four East Anglian activists, Barbara Sunderland (72), Davida Higgin (74), Peter Lanyon (68) and Simone Chimowitz (49), were arrested on Remembrance Sunday last year after cutting their way through the fence at AWE Aldermaston in an attempt to carry out a citizens’ inspection of the site. They are charged with criminal damage. They are not disputing the facts of the case but are arguing that their action was justified as a last resort in responding to the threat posed by the illegal Trident nuclear weapon system.

Yesterday defence barrister Rajiv Menon argued that the Hutchinson appeal case should not be taken as conclusive authority on the defence of necessity. He referred to the 1999 appeal case of Abdul Hussain in which the High Court held that the defence of necessity was available to the defendants even though they had other options to deal with their very real fears.

Justice Wooller restricted defence expert witness Dr. Frank Barnaby to dealing with the dangers that Aldermaston posed to the surrounding public, on the basis that only this was relevant to whether the defendants were taking steps by their actions to avoid imminent danger. Dr. Barnaby explained the continuing risks of plutonium and tritium discharges, why the warheads needed servicing and the lasting and enduring damage to the environment which would be sure to result from any major accident.

Other defence witnesses were not allowed to take the stand, including George Farebrother of the World Court Project who would have been questioned on the efforts taken by the Trident Ploughshares Dialogue and Negotiation Task Group to establish meaningful contact with the UK government on the issue of disarming Trident.

Having considered the case overnight Justice Wooller will give his verdict this morning in Reading Magistrates Court.

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