'No faith in Trident' protesters found guilty

The June protest

Five members of Christian activist group Put Down The Sword: Nina Carter-Brown, Nick Cooper, Angela Ditchfield, Joanna Frew and Alison Parker, were found guilty by District Judge Khan at Reading Magistrates Court on Friday.

The MoD said work on that day had been disrupted due to the blockade by the protesters.

Earlier in the week Prime Minister Theresa May spoke about having "faith in Trident" in spite of safety concerns, after it was revealed that an unarmed Trident missile had been accidentally fired in the wrong direction during tests last June.

The defendants on Friday were tried for their actions at a "No Faith in Trident" day in June 2016 with Trident Ploughshares.

Expert witness Father Peter Hunter gave evidence that neither the use or threat of nuclear weapons can be considered compatible with Christian faith.

During their three day trial, the defendants presented evidence of the importance within Christian Faith of action for peace and justice. The defence asked the judge to consider their Rights under articles 9, 10 and 11 of the ECHR - freedom of religion, expression and assembly respectively.

Even the prosecuting barrister, Tom Bushnell had conceded that "the court is bound to take into consideration the rights of the defendants, including the right to religious expression under ECHR and under common law."

However DJ Khan said he had considered this, and noted the "compelling evidence" from Father Peter Hunter, but that he did not agree "that the actions of the defendants were a manifestation of a religious belief" and in any case that "these rights have to yield to the primary right of passing and repassing the highway."

There was also much debate over whether defendants were actually obstructing a public highway, or only the private entrance to the base they agreed they wanted to disrupt.

DJ Khan found all of the Defendants guilty of wilful obstruction of the highway. He sentenced them each to a conditional discharge of six months, with costs of £100 and surcharge of £20 (£120 total).

In his sentencing remarks, he said that he admired them and what they had done but found they had crossed the line of culpability.

This is the first time any of the defendants have received a criminal conviction, however they remain determined that this will not hinder them from future actions.

"We don't resist militarism for validation from the powers and principalities, rather to challenge the systems that hold them in place." explained one of the group.

A joint statement from the defendants stated: "We stand by what we said in court: Trident is an illegal and immoral waste of money, a crime against humanity and God. The prosecution said we could just have joined in a prayer vigil to the side of the road, instead of lying in it; we said our consciences wouldn't allow that. We believe prayer is important but sometimes our faith compels us to put our whole bodies in the way of injustice and violence. The Bible says religious acts are meaningless unless we also stand up for the poor and needy; we are called to bring a just peace with hope for all. We will continue to seek peace, and to take the consequences of doing so. It's a small price to pay for the chance to challenge an evil like nuclear weapons."

The defendants were represented in court by Jo Buckley of Matrix Chambers, and Adam Payter of 6KBW. The CPS were represented by Tom Bushnell of 3 Raymond Buildings.