Press Releases & Updates 2003

At her trial in Helensburgh District Court on a charge of breaching the peace at a mass blockade of the base in October 2001, Rosie told Justice of the Peace Viv Dance that it would be a crime not to protest against Trident. She freely admitted that she had sat in the roadway at the north gate of the base to stop workers going in but she had not breached the peace or committed any crime.

After the guilty verdict Rosie said she would not pay a fine. JP Dance fined her £150 and told her that if she had not paid up in 28 days the penalty would be automatically varied to a Supervised Attendance Order (SAO) of 20 hours. After the trial Rosie said she was pleased at the SAO option giving something to the community was much preferable to the wastefulness of prison. She added: "There is all this talk about Saddam Hussein hiding his weapons of mass destruction but the idea of anyone being able to conceal the Faslane and Coulport bases is laughable." The verdict and sentence had not affected her commitment to protesting against Trident.

Also in court today were Brian Quail from Glasgow and Eric Wallace from Helensburgh. Both were charged with an alleged breach of the peace at a blockade of Faslane’s north gate last August when campaigners lay in the gateway to symbolise the ongoing suffering of the people of Iraq and the new threat of war. Following a straightforward but moving defence, based on the principle that "we are not allowed to kill innocent people" Brian was found guilty and fined a hefty £250, to be automatically varied to an SAO of 50 hours if he did not pay in 28 days.

Eric explained to the court that he had wanted to draw attention to the suffering in Iraq and the threats against it. He recalled being told by MP George Galloway a month before the blockade that an attack against Iraq would take place. He produced copies of popular newspapers whose coverage of the event showed that his action and that of his fellow blockaders had been effective in bringing the issue to public attention. He had not broken the law he had followed his conscience. He was fined £100 with 28 days to pay, again with an automatic variation to a SAO of 15 hours in the event of non-payment.

Printer friendly version

Home | Top