Press Releases & Updates 2000

Jane Tallents (42), from Helensburgh, was appearing on a charge of breach of the peace arising from a blockade of the Trident warhead store on 22nd August 1999. She had been one of a group acting "in solidarity with victims of the nuclear chain", such as the Shoshone people of Nevada whose lands had been poisoned by nuclear bomb testing. Following a religious service at the Coulport Gate and a short and moving ceremony Jane and fellow Trident Ploughshares members had sat down in the road, preventing base traffic from entering.

Jane did not dispute the basic facts in the charge against her. She explained that she had come to live in the area because of her opposition to Trident. Britain’s nuclear weapons were not a local issue merely but a global one. She challenged the court with the question: What do we do when the people we would normally turn to for help in dealing with a crime refuse to act?, causing the police officer on duty to hang his head. Giving a crisp outline of the legal case against Trident she brought in a defence of necessity, showing how the nature of Trident and her own response matched exactly the legal criteria for that defence.

Justice of the Peace Gillies, contrary to his usual tight-lipped approach to the verdict, gave a brief explanation of why he was finding her guilty. He did not believe that the possession of nuclear weapons was unlawful and said that the defence of necessity did not stand because there was no immediate danger. The accused had other avenues for pursuing her objections. He fined her £300 with 28 days to pay.

Jane will lodge an appeal against both the conviction and the sentence. She said: "This was a perverse verdict. The Procurator Fiscal made no attempt to rebut my defence of necessity. As for what the JP said, it’s obvious that Trident is not merely possessed but actively and threateningly deployed and I did demonstrate that the threat is immediate and ever-present."

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