Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Stop the War Activist Graffiti on Recruitment Office: Appeal to Nottingham Crown Court

Tash [alan lodge] | 24.10.2008 13:51 | Anti-militarism | Repression

On Thursday 23rd October, I attended the Nottingham Crown Court to hear the appeal against conviction of Henry Twigger.

On the 6th April 2008, Henry had initially painted graffiti on the Army Careers Office at the Victoria Centre, in Milton Street, Nottingham. He did so while wearing a hi-vis vest and was unmasked. His choice of slogans included "War 4 Oil" & "Terrorists join here" on the front of the building in red paint.






Henry's work
Henry's work

Earlier works
Earlier works



On Thursday 23rd October, I attended the Nottingham Crown Court to hear the appeal against conviction of Henry Twigger.

On the 6th April 2008, Henry had initially painted graffiti on the Army Careers Office at the Victoria Centre, in Milton Street, Nottingham. He did so while wearing a hi-vis vest and was unmasked.

His choice of slogans included "War 4 Oil" & "Terrorists join here" on the front of the building in red paint. Since the place was last painted and decorated, CCTV equipment had been prominently installed and is capable of viewing the entire frontage. Having finished the job, and a policeman already dispatched to look into it; our hero greets the constable with a pot of red paint and a brush and invites him to view the handywork. He is arrested for criminal damage and dragged off in chains to the Bridewell Police Station.

Now, from the outset here, it is obvious that he done it, and he wasn't sorry. Henry, a former Territorial Army Soldier says his objective was to warn the passing public and new recruits in particular about the illegal nature of the current military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the 17th July Henry was before the beak at Nottingham Magistrates Court, were he was found guilty of Criminal Damage and sentenced to a 12 month conditional discharge. Additionally, Henry had been directed to pay £200 compensation for the damage done to the Recruitment Office. At the time, he said he wouldn't be paying because: "I don't give money to terrorist organisations" :-)

Stop the War Activist in Nottingham Magistrates Court
 http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/404021.html

Thursday’s hearing was about appealing this conviction. Appearing before Recorder WJH Harbage QC in the Crown Courts. Henry's main plan was to point to the 'lawful excuse' provided for in 5.2.B. of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.  http://tinyurl.com/56m264

The idea, as it is contained within a number of pieces of law, is to claim necessity or committing a crime to prevent a greater one. [see Kingsnorth & Ratcliffe power station cases] . Further, a person / fireman smashing down a door in order save a person from burning building, should not be convicted of criminal damage to the door. He said, "in this case, preventing a much greater crime that of illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further the misleading information given by recruiting offices to recruits".

He was a bit handicapped from the start, being unrepresented. He had a witness that he proposed to call for expert views but the first part of the case was about the ineligibility of him to be an 'expert witness'. Also, they had not submitted a report to the court 7 days before as required. He was not academic or professionally qualified. However, as Henry points out, there are few in this field that are. Mr Chris Coverdale from the Campaign to Make Wars History had turned out to assist Henry, but his evidence was disallowed. [See leaflet above for what he might have said].

Henry outlines his case to the court: In a civilised society the citizen has a duty to make a public stand and to bring to attention of the public, the crimes and war crimes of genocide and murder. These crimes are committed by the government, ministers and officers. By their actions, whether they know it or not, they are in support of these heinous crimes. His citizens duty was thus to inform recruits of these matters. He did so in full view and with no intention to hide his actions. Henry goes on to tell the court of magnitude of deaths and injuries sustained. A few times during his explanation, the judge holds his speech, informs him the witness box is not a soapbox, and calls him back to the criminal damages act!

Mr Timothy Achurch for the prosecution questions if this was in fact an action designed to inform the public, or, simply straight vandalism. He fails to see how the paint and graffiti are necessary in the protection of property.

In judgement, Recorder Harbage dismisses the appeal.

There is no lawful excuse in his actions. He agrees with Mr Achurch that he fails to see how the paint and graffiti are necessary in the protection of property. Further, he states that the wars are not wars of aggression.

He does not doubt his sincerity but Henry Twiggers actions were not within the defence provided for with section 5.2.B of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. There simply was not the immediate need, say described in the example of breaking down a door to rescue from fire. His actions were far more removed and there was no lawful excuse. It was in fact, he said, no more than a publicity stunt. Appeal dismissed.

Mr Achurch asks for £335 costs. Judge orders cost paid within 28 days and that the original magistrates courts sentence of 12 months conditional discharge stands. There was of course the original £200 compensation to clean off his handwork. Henry says he still can't pay that because it 'aids and abets' the system he's protesting about.

Treaty between the United States and other Powers providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy
 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/kbpact.htm

Kellogg-Briand Pact: an international treaty providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellogg-Briand_Pact

The Campaign to Make Wars History
 http://www.makewarshistory.org.uk

____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email:  tash@indymedia.org
Member of the National Union of Journalists [No: 014345]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________

Tash [alan lodge]
- e-mail: tash@indymedia.org

Comments

Display the following 5 comments

  1. Great art work! — Chiara
  2. Invasion of Iraq, no WMDS found, invasion of Afghanistan has no legal — Green syndicalist
  3. Well Done Henry. — Old School Chum
  4. Good intentions — Brian B
  5. inspiring works — babs tucker
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


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