Date: 24 October 2008
Two convicted, eight cleared in trespass trial
Two people have been found guilty of aggravated trespass at Southern Derbyshire magistrates court.
Kristen Rea, 24 of Warwickshire and Mary Wilson, 66 of Coventry were each given 12 month community orders and ordered to pay costs. They were also banned from entering the county of Derbyshire for a year.
They were arrested in April during a protest at the Rolls Royce Raynesway factory in Derby, where parts are made for use in nuclear submarines.
Early in the trial, Judge Caroline Golbourn ruled that the work at the factory was lawful, effectively dismissing a key defence argument that the defendants couldn't be convicted for disrupting what they believed was an illegal activity.
Eight other defendants also arrested at the protest were cleared of aggravated trespass. However the judge said that if they had been charged with obstructing the highway, then they would have been convicted.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson explained that although a number of offences could have been considered, after reviewing the evidence it was decided that there was a realistic prospect of a conviction against all defendants for aggravated trespass.
