Protesters at RAF base guilty of damaging US vehicles

Two anti-war protesters who broke into a British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq were found guilty on July 6 of causing criminal damage to US vehicles there. Margaret Jones and Paul Milling used hammers and bolt cutters to disable fuel tankers and trailers used for carrying bombs at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, on Mar. 13, 2003. They said they were trying to stop the deaths of civilians by attempting to prevent US B-52s from taking off on bombing missions over Iraq. Dr. Jones, 57, a university lecturer from Bristol, and Milling, 61, from Ambleside in Cumbria, a former York magistrate and councilor, denied conspiring to cause criminal damage to property, saying their actions were an attempt to prevent the "murder of innocent civilians." They added: "If we can help to prevent the murder of one civilian by what we have done at Fairford tonight then the action will have been worthwhile." A jury at Bristol crown court unanimously found them guilty of the charge after three hours of deliberations. Milling was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay $500 costs, while Jones's sentencing was adjourned for reports until July 27. The pair argued that they were trying to delay the take-off of the bombers, which they said would kill thousands of Iraqi civilians and destroy the country's infrastructure. They caused over $20,000 of damage when they broke instrument panels on three tankers and cut the brake cables of 15 bomb-carrying trailers. They admitted causing the damage but argued that they had acted lawfully by trying to prevent more serious war crimes being committed by the US. The convictions were the first the Crown had secured against any of the "Fairford five" after six trials, including two with hung juries. Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard, who also broke into the Fairford base to stop US B-52 bombers by clogging their engines with nuts and bolts, were acquitted by a Bristol jury in May after they argued that they were trying to prevent war crimes in Iraq. Josh Richards was cleared after the jury failed to reach a verdict for the second time in his case last month. Jones and Milling told the jury they had been forced to act after reading about the planned "shock and awe" air strikes on Baghdad, saying their actions were "undertaken in an attempt to hinder the murder of innocent civilians." The prosecution accepted the pair acted on "honestly held beliefs" but said they were nevertheless guilty of breaking the law. Their trial followed a three-year legal battle by the anti-war protesters to be allowed to challenge the legality of the war in their defense. The appeal court said they could argue they acted to prevent war crimes, but could not contest the legality of the invasion.