Press Releases & Updates 1999

Annika Spalde, Stellan Vinthagen and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, of the Bread Not Bombs Ploughshares group, had been accused of conspiring to cause criminal damage to the new Trident nuclear weapons submarine, HMS Vengeance, in September last year at Barrow.

Stellan said:

"We are really impressed that a jury of ordinary citizens from a town so dependent on weapons production refused to find us guilty, in spite of them being told by the judge that that was their only option."

The three will appear in court on Friday 21st May when it will be decided whether there will be a retrial. Stellan was asked what he felt about a second trial:

"It’s a heavy thought but I feel happy because it increases the chance of an acquittal and more pressure on the UK government to begin disarming the Trident system."

The judge has said that he will seek the view of the Attorney General on the application of the 1996 ruling by the International Court of Justice to Britain’s nuclear weapons.

The Bread Not Bombs group work in association with Trident Ploughshares 2000 and TP2000 pledger Jane Tallents said:

"It is an enormous encouragement that at least some members of a jury have appreciated the moral and legal arguments we are bringing to bear, in spite of the judge blocking substantial parts of the defence. This result gives great hope to TP2000 activists as they continue to argue in court for the validity of direct disarmament."

Preston Crown Court is set to host yet another trial of disarmers when the Aldermaston Trash Trident activists appear on charges of damage to radar testing equipment on board the same submarine on the 1st February.

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