Skip Navigation | HOME | UK Indymedia | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

manchester Indymedia

Derby Rolls Royce Blockaders Found Guilty

Faslane Peace Camp | 20.11.2003 21:43 | Anti-militarism

The trial of eight anti-nuclear protesters finished today at Derby Magistrates Court after a hearing lasting two and a half days. Protesters from Faslane Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares had blockaded the gates of Rolls Royce in Derby during an action to highlight Rolls Royce's part in the illegal UK nuclear weapons programme.

The blockade at Rolls Royce was part of a week of actions and events during Faslane Peace Camp's 21st Birthday last June. Evidence produced during the trial revealed the success of the blockade. The site employs two thousand people, and with both gates blocked it produced major tailbacks and gridlock, with disruption back to a dual carriageway.

The court refused to allow the defence to quote International Law, ruling that "International Law is a political issue and not to be discussed in this court." Activists insisted that their action was to uphold Nuremberg Principles and was morally and legally right.

The seven who attended court were found guilty of Public Order Act section 5 offences and fined £200 plus £200 court costs each. One protester was fined a further £50 for initially giving her name as Pat Freeborn when arrested. Sue Brackenbury was brought to court in handcuffs each day as she is being held on remand for a separate charge of trying to disarm a Trident submarine during its current refit at Devonport.

One protester had his charge of Police Assault dropped. He had been dragged from a gate by police after pressure points were used to remove him. All the protesters strongly refuted his charge and insisted that they were experienced protesters and remained peaceful throughout. The police video of the action showed there was no evidence of assault.

The defendants were saddened by the unprofessional behaviour of the police. There was clearly fabricated police evidence in court, with an officer saying that the protesters had charged at 10 to 20 employees during the blockade. The police again were not able to show video evidence or produce witnesses. Indeed the defence pointed out that there were only 4 or 5 security guards on the gate and that the protesters had strenuously avoided knocking anyone, saying "remaining peaceful was paramount."

At the time of the action one police officer had made his attitude clear in a revealing and outrageous comment, saying "Why do they have to dress like Big Issue sellers, why can't they be human or something?". Prescription medication was also withheld during their time in police custody, and no right of reply to charges was allowed at the time of arrest.

One of the defendants said "The UK government went to war and killed many people in Iraq based on dubious international law. Meanwhile in court we were not allowed to base our defence on International Law. This is despite our action clearly designed to point out that Britain's illegal WMD system is maintained in part here at Derby."

Rolls Royce make and refurbish fuel rods for the nuclear reactor cores of the British Trident Vanguard class of submarine. Rolls Royce manufacture and export military equipment to forty-seven countries world-wide regardless of human rights abuses within those countries.

 http://www.faslanepeacecamp.org.uk/
 http://www.tridentploughshares.org/

Faslane Peace Camp
- e-mail: faslania@faslanepeacecamp.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.faslanepeacecamp.org.uk

Download this article in pdf format >>

Email this article to someone >>

Make a quick comment on this article >>

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Manchester Topics

Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Manchester Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Manchester Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Manchester Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Manchester Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Manchester Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Manchester Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Manchester Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Manchester Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Languages

english

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech