Vandals caused £1.2m of factory damage in wrecking spree before unfurling banner, court told
More than £1.2 million of damage was caused when three women and a man went on a wrecking spree at a mid Wales factory and unfurled a “Palestine” banner, a jury heard.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard how Teledyne Labtech in Presteigne was targeted on December 9 last year.
Police cordoned off roads near the factory, with jurors hearing how there had been the potential for the creation of cyanide should chlorine become mixed with other chemicals at the site due to the nature of the work at the factory.
Prosecuting counsel Elen Owen said there was also fear of a “thermal runaway” because of the vandalism. She said: "That could have caused catastrophic results for anyone in the vicinity, a housing estate and school just a matter of metres away.”
Ruth Hogg, 39, of Stanley Road, Aberystwyth, denies her behaviour was unlawful. She is charged with conspiring to damage property on December 9 with Susan Bagshaw, 65, of Clawdd Helyg, Commins Coch, Morwenna Grey, 41, of Penrallt Street, Machynlleth, and Tristan Dixon, 34, of Huddersfield, and is on trial alone.
The prosecution said Teledyne Labtech made printed circuit boards for various uses including MRI scanners, commercial aircraft, satellites and military radar. At the time there were 64 staff employed at the factory on a small industrial estate.
Counsel described how workers had been drinking coffee in the canteen when they heard glass smashing. Reception windows had been broken and Bagshaw and Grey were climbing inside the building.
The prosecutor said they wore boiler suits and balaclavas and had a crowbar and sledgehammer. The jury heard paint had been sprayed on walls and the floor, office equipment destroyed and orange smoke grenades detonated.
A freelance photographer had been tipped off and took snaps, the prosecutor said.
Hogg and Dixon were said to have been on the roof. An angle grinder was allegedly used to try to cut through the roof and skylights had been smashed, raining glass over machines and the floor.
“Fortunately there was nobody in that room when that happened,” said the prosecuting barrister.
A police helicopter sent from the Bristol area had filmed Hogg and Dixon who had rucksacks.
“She is with a cordless drill, indiscriminately drilling holes in the roof of the factory and systematically, window-by-window, smashing a long line of windows with a crowbar.”
Fire extinguishers had been filled with paint, the lawyer said.
The alleged bill for the damage was “an issue,” the prosecutor explained.
She added to jurors: "Mercifully nobody was injured physically but the various staff members will tell you how the incident affected them.”
The trial before Judge Rhys Rowlands continues.
