Powys nuclear war protester walks free from court
An anti-nuclear weapons campaigner has been admonished by a court after taking part a blockade outside a base where British nuclear warheads are kept.
Angie Zelter from Knighton, Brian Quail from Glasgow, and Sam Donaldson from Hull appeared before a court in Dumbarton on Thursday, where they were found guilty of a breach of the peace.
However all three, who are part of the group Trident Ploughshares, walked free from court after being admonished by magistrates.
The court heard that on July 11, the protesters were close to the entrance of the RNAD Coulport base, where the UK's warheads are stored and loaded onto Trident submarines.
Following the blockade, Zelter and Quail were arrested and served 16 days in custody on remand after refusing to accept special bail conditions not to approach the nuclear bases at Faslane and Coulport.
During the trial in Dumbarton, the court heard from the pair who explained their motivation and justification for their actions.
Quail told the court of the effect on people of the Marshall Islands of the nuclear weapons tests carried out there.
Zelter argued that article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights gave her the right to express opinion, including by means of obstructing the activity.
Donaldson told the court that as a 'quaker', he was obliged to act on the dictates of his conscience in opposing weapons of mass destruction.
All three also argued that nuclear weapon convoys carrying warheads along country roads amounted to a 'massive breach of the peace.'
The court also heard from police witnesses who said the protest had been conducted in a calm, peaceful and orderly manner.
Magistrates found all three guilty of a breach of the peace but were content to admonish them – the lightest penalty a Scottish court can impose.
David Mackenzie from the anti trident group said: "Those present in the court today felt that JP Symon gave the protesters a fair and respectful hearing but saw herself as having no option but to take account of the current legal tests for establishing a charge of breach of the peace.
"At the same time that charge is utterly absurd, given the completely peaceful actions of the protesters on the one hand and the palpable criminality of the UK's weapons of mass destruction on the other.
"An even bigger issue is that people in Scotland who engage in peaceful protests against nuclear weapons end up being punished by Scottish courts.
"That is intolerable. A criminal justice system which is, in this matter, so much at odds with the wishes of the people, is damaging its own authority and credibility."
Zelter has been part of protests all over the world for many years, being arrested 100 times and serving 16 prison sentences in Belgium, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Poland and Scotland.
