Press Releases & Updates 2002

Janet Fenton (55), a voluntary worker from Edinburgh, partly based her defence in Helensburgh on the fact that the Scottish High Court, in reviewing the acquittal of the Trident Three, had given their view that Trident would only be illegal if it was used: mere possession was not enough. By the same token the bottoms of sit-down protesters could not be held to be illegal until they were actively deployed in a blockade. In her case the police had jumped the gun.

It is not known whether Justice of the Peace Nicholson was swayed by this "a posteriore" argument but he did say that he was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that she had breached the peace.

Not so lucky was Aihoa Polanco (22), a Basque woman living in Glasgow, who was found guilty of breaching the peace at blockade of the base last October and fined £75. The same fine was given to Jan Sutch Pickard (58), Warden of the Iona Community, for taking part in the blockade of Faslane in February.

Trident Ploughshares comment: "The court is colluding shamefully with the Crown by failing to face up to the implications of the Smith and Donnelly appeal and the Tommy Sheridan case."

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