Press Releases & Updates 2001

Ian Sanders (25), a PHD agricultural student from Aberdeen, represented himself. He was charged with a breach of the peace for linking arms with other protesters round the base of a tripod of scaffolding poles that was used to block the road leading to the south gate of Faslane naval base early on the morning of the Big Blockade in February.

Ian’s skillful cross-examination of the police witnesses established that there was no hint of violence or aggression at the tripod blockade, and that there was no likelihood of the situation developing into one that would give rise to alarm or distress. When he was arrested at 4 a.m., there were only police and protesters about. When Ian attempted to ask the first witness about the alarm that might be caused by the presence of the Trident system Sheriff Lindsay Wood ruled this out as irrelevant. At the end of the Crown case Ian made a submission of no case to answer, arguing that there had been no evidence of alarm of distress, or the likelihood of the same, key criteria for the breach of the peace charge outlined in the High Court Opinion in the Smith v Donnelly appeal. The Sheriff rejected his submission, quoting a number of passages from the Smith v Donnelly Opinion, including the description of a breach of the peace as a "flagrant" act.

In his evidence Ian gave a simple account of his motivation for taking part in the blockade and insisted that he had been peaceful throughout and that his actions had harmed no-one. Procurator Fiscal Scott Simpson, summing up the Crown case, submitted that although no traffic was around at the time of Ian’s arrest, the intention of the protesters had been to maintain the blockade until the morning shift arrived at the base. In his own summing up Ian again argued that the key criteria for breach of the peace had not been met. Finding him guilty Sheriff Wood said that it was reasonable to infer that Ian’s action would lead to the holding up of traffic into the base and that it was "flagrant" enough to establish the charge. He fined him £150 with 28 days to pay.

Trident Ploughshares member David Mackenzie said: "Sheriff Wood got good marks today for his thoroughness and consideration in guiding Ian through the court procedure. Less impressive was his cherry-picking from Smith v Donnelly to back his assessment that a crime had been committed. He said that common sense had to be applied in such cases but it is a poor sort of common sense that is oblivious to the criminality of Trident."

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