Press Releases & Updates 2001

Jenny Gaiawyn, a student in her mid-twenties formerly resident at Faslane Peace Camp, still bedecked in festive glitter, was appearing in Helensburgh District Court before Justice of the Peace Tony Stirling on a charge of breach of the peace. In November 1999, during a Trident Ploughshares blockade of Coulport Armaments depot, where Trident warheads are stored, she had locked on to the underside of a workers’ bus at one of the depot’s entrances. Jenny told the court that people were still dying and suffering severe birth defects due to the testing of nuclear bombs. Her justification for her action was her right to protest against the immorality of these weapons.

The standard of prosecution evidence was even lower than is usual in such cases. Police testified that Jenny had locked on to the first bus in the queue at the main entrance to the depot, at the Kibble roundabout. She was in fact locked on to the second bus in the queue at another gate to the depot, about half a mile away. Jenny did not make an issue of this since she was ready to admit the basic facts of the case and to take responsibility for her actions.

When found guilty she told JP Stirling she would not pay the £50 fine he imposed. She had not and would not pay the last fine she had had from the court. She suggested he send her to jail and get the business over with. The JP said he would stick with the £50 fine but give her seven days to pay.

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said:

"2001 begins familiarly enough in Helensburgh. On the one hand the usual sloppiness and muddle from the court and the prosecution and on the other Jenny’s clarity, spirit and determination. Trident’s jacket is on a shaky nail and we are looking forward to another great year for disarmament."

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