Fair trial for Fairford three?
A St Catz student on trial for criminal damage has been cleared of all charges. As reported in last week's OxStu, Owen English, along with two other defendants, was charged with causing over £8000 worth of damage to the main gate of R.A.F. Fairford in Gloucestershire during a Stop The War protest in February.
The judge ruled that English had "no case to answer", owing to the flimsy nature of the video evidence put forward by the prosecution. English said that he was "very relieved" at the outcome, and was "really glad to have it over with."
The remaining defendants were not so lucky. Katherine Holcomb and Geoffrey Cornock, both non-students, invoked the defence of "lawful excuse" for their actions, arguing that combat operations in Iraq were illegal, and that they were simply trying to prevent further action. The jury rejected their defence, finding them guilty of criminal damage, with the judge handing down a two year conditional discharge to both.
The financial implications of the judgement are massive for the two convicted. Both Holcomb and Cornock were ordered, between them, to pay the full cost of replacing the damaged gate, which has spiralled to £10,500. Cornock also has to pay £500 in compensation to the Ministry of Defence.
13th Nov 2003