Friends acting under Concern

Jo Hindley gives an update on trial of 6 people, including 4 CEQ Friends, who took action at Telford International Centre Arms Fair on 1st Nov 2023.

The trial of Ali Bath, Rajan Naidu, Louise Scrivens, Ralph Wallin, Fran Wilde and Heather Wilde took place during the week commencing 20th January at Walsall Magistrates Court, heard by District Judge Wheeler. 

After three days in Court the trial was adjourned for Judge Wheeler to deliberate. It will reconvene at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court on Monday 3rd March when the Judge will deliver his verdict. 

The six defendants were arrested on 1st Nov 2023 outside Telford International Centre which was, at the time, hosting the SDSC-UK (Strategic Defence and Security Convention), the “Telford Arms Fair”.  

They were charged with “locking on” to each other and the gates.  Another charge for trespass was dropped before the Trial. 

The Police gave no undertaking to the defendants that if they were to self-release they would not be arrested anyway so the defendants remained chained until they were freed by the Police using simple bolt cutters.  

“Locking on” – an age-old practice of peaceful protest – is a new charge that came in under the Public Order Act 2023 and this trial is one of the first to test this charge. In this case the use of a long chain linking the protesters to each other and to the gates of the International Centre symbolically represented how we as private individuals are linked with war crimes by our toleration of arms trade profiteering in the Midlands. 

The Court heard evidence from the Prosecution witnesses: CEO of the SDSC, senior Security Officer of the Telford International Centre, and two representatives of the Police. The Prosecution barrister suggested that the action of the defendants was a “futile attention-seeking exercise”, that the defendants were “self-styled vigilantes” and that they had gone for a “nuclear” protest option when they could have just waved  placards at the side of the road. 

Each defendant took the opportunity offered to fully recount how they had come to take the action. As well as being motivated by facts and science documented by the IPPC (Intergovernmental  Panel on Climate Change), some defendants claimed their faith had played a part in motivating them to take action referencing the Quaker Peace testimony and the Pope’s encyclical “Laudato Si!”  

Louise and Fran highlighted the importance of investing in peace building solutions and processes such as citizens assemblies to strengthen civil society especially as climate destabilisation worsens. 

The Judge read a letter of support received by Rajan from Anti Apartheid campaigner, Andrew Feinstein.

The defendants also described their fears. Heather, aged 18 at the time of the action expressed the poignant view of a younger person that her own life would likely be foreshortened  by climate destabilisation directly or indirectly due to food and water shortage, disease, conflict and war.  Ralph and Ali who had worked professionally with people with special needs spoke about their  fears for the people they had cared for.  The Defence said the defendants were “genuine, caring, thoughtful people doing what they can to protect, principally, others”, and that they were “clearly conscientious people wanting to send a message on the day”. 

The Court heard how delegates to the Arms Fair arriving by car at the front gate were turned around to access the International Centre via the rear entrance car park 300m away and as part of the evidence presented the Court was shown livestream footage of the defendants lowering their “No Arms Deals in Telford” banner and the chains for delegates to enter the front gate on foot.  Apparently some delegates accepted white Peace poppies as they stepped over the chains.

Judge Wheeler will have to balance the degree of disruption/inconvenience caused by the defendants’ actions with protection of the defendants’ rights to protest under Articles 10 and 11 of the Human Rights Act: the right to freedom of expression and the right to free assembly. The 2021 Supreme Court case of DPP vs Ziegler weighing “proportionality” and “recklessness” is key to this.

Summing up, the Defence invoked the historical cases of suffragist Emily Davison and Civil Rights Campaigner Rosa Parks movingly demonstrating that the futility or effectiveness of protest actions cannot be assessed in the moment they are taken or in the immediate aftermath but may be appreciated with the hindsight of history.

Over 60 people including Quakers from across the Midlands, supporters from Extinction Rebellion, Trades Union Council, Palestine Solidarity groups, The Workers Party, Communist Party and Friends of the Earth joined a whatsapp group to coordinate Court Support for the defendants. Supporters animated the Peace Dove puppet, held placards and handed out information postcards to passers by outside the Court. Inside the Court up to ten supporters were allowed into the Public Gallery at a time to witness proceedings and take notes. The raft of support was joyous and continues to carry us all. 

The Stop the Telford Arms Fair website has details of how to keep informed of further actions.