Fairford - news archive

Today’s Morning Star has an interesting interview with Bristol peace activist, Margaret Jones, following her conviction for saobotaging US military equipment on the eve of the Iraq war.
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Before her own trial, Jones, a self-professed “green socialist,” was hopeful about the outcome of her case. “I have huge faith in the good sense of the average jury,” she commented, noting the Iraq war had “divided juries, the way its divided the nation.” Unfortunately, as Jones now knows, “the jury system is a gamble.” After just three

RAF MILDENHALL, England — An English peace activist convicted for sneaking onto RAF Fairford and damaging equipment to protest the Iraq war was sentenced Friday to six months’ house arrest. Margaret Jones, 58, will have to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet on her ankle as a penalty for the March 2003 break-in, according to England’s Telegraph newspaper.

Yep - the judge says that being such a menace to society, I have to be house arrested between the hours of 7.00 pm and midnight (when presumably I turn into a pumpkin and can do no more harm). Except for Sunday and Monday evenings, when I may go out for the religious meetings I attend on these days.

This is a forwarded text from an email by Monica (Margaret) Jones. She writes: "Apologies to anyone who's already put a date in their diaries for my sentencing at Bristol Crown Court for damaging the trucks at RAF Fairford. There is now a NEW date. Same place of course - Bristol Crown Court, Small Street - near St Nicholas Market. The new date is the 2nd of August, at 10.00 am.

Photos of billboards advertising the Fairdford Air Tattoo, defaced with blood-like red paint.

Monica (aka Margaret) Jones Writes:

In spite of the best efforts of our excellent legal team, we had a jury who unanimously found us guilty after only three hours of deliberation. This was especially frustrating given the previous track record of three hung juries in the orignial trials, and two acquittals for the re-trials prior to ours. Such is life. Paul got a conditional discharge. I have to go to see the probation people prior to sentencing, and probably will end up doing community service.

Day Three of the trial was marked by Paul's encyclopedic documentation of governmental dodgy dossiers, threats and false claims before the invasion of Iraq. It was a most impressive performance. The prosecution's response (a) all the articles were from the Guardian (an anti-war paper); and (b) how did the defendants know the B-52 bombers at Fairford were not there to carry leaflets to Iraq ? This last suggestion was met with the derision it deserved from almost everyone in court - including the jury, from whom a distinct collective titter was heard. Prosecutors should get out more.

Two anti-war protesters who broke into RAF Fairford in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq were found guilty yesterday of causing criminal damage to American vehicles at the base. Margaret Jones and Paul Milling used hammers and bolt cutters to disable fuel tankers and trailers used for carrying bombs at the airfield in Gloucestershire on March 13 2003. They said they had been trying to save the lives of civilians by attempting to stop American B-52s from taking off on bombing missions over Iraq.

The prosecution gave most of its evidence today. Footage of damage to trucks, po narratives of the arrest ... . No great surprises. The pleasant-looking jury seemed mildly interested. The Squadron Leader nominally in charge of RAF Fairford gave evidence today. and in response to cross-questioning, HE said some very interesting things.

The re-trial began today of the 'Fairford Two' at Bristol Crown Court, making this series of trials the second longest the court has seen. Jones, from Bristol, and Milling, from Cumbria disabled two articulated lorries, fifteen bomb-carrying trailers and three fuel trucks at the RAF base in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2003. They admit using hammers and boltcutters to disable the equipment on 13 March, just one week before the invasion of Iraq.

A British man was acquitted Wednesday of attempting to set fire to U.S. bombers at RAF Fairford on the eve of the Iraq war, following a jury’s failure to reach a decision. Judge Thomas Crowther declared Josh Richards, 34, not guilty at Bristol Crown Court around 4 p.m. Wednesday after more than nine hours of jury deadlock, Richards’ attorney, Robbie Manson, said Thursday.

After 9-10 hours, the jury could not reach a majority verdict either way – Hung Jury. The prosecution stated they had no further evidence to offer and, just before 4 p.m., the Judge ruled Not Guilty. Extremely, extremely good news, for everyone who has been following things, for the unique & brilliant defence team and, of course, for me.

A British man charged with attempting to set fire to U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers temporarily stationed at RAF Fairford on the eve of the war in Iraq is facing his second trial. Josh Richards, 34, faces four charges in connection with his alleged attempt to break onto the base and set fire to the long-range bombers on March 18, 2003, according to the Bristol Crown Court.

On 22th May 2007, the trial of two Oxford peace activists Philip Pritchard and Toby Olditch (known as the 'B52 Two') concluded with the jury returning a unanimous verdict of not-guilty in less than three hours. The two were charged with 'conspiring to cause criminal damage' at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 18 March 2003 when they tried to safely disable US B52 bombers to prevent them from bombing Iraq. The court heard the two men acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and war crimes by the aggressors.

If they were to do it over again, Phil Pritchard says, they would bring less stuff. He and Toby Olditch were carrying "silly amounts" when they broke into RAF Fairford on the eve of the Iraq war: bolts and screws to be placed inside the B-52s' engines, pictures of smiling Iraqi children to be stuck on to the payload doors, toothbrushes and stamps to be used in prison, and flashing headbands in the hope that they would look too ridiculous to be shot.

Toby Olditch, 38, and Philip Pritchard, 36, were found not guilty despite admitting that they broke into an RAF base where the bombers were kept, determined to disable them. The pair had planned to place nuts and bolts in the engines of the aircraft, at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, daub them with paint and then photograph their handiwork, but they were caught yards from the runway.

Toby Olditch, 38, and Philip Pritchard, 36, denied conspiring to cause criminal damage, as they were trying to prevent 'war crimes'. They admitted using bolt cutters to cut through a perimeter fence at RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, on March 18, 2003, the day before the Iraq war began. They were cleared by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, after the judge advised that the jury did not have to decide the legality of the decision to go to war.

Two anti-war campaigners who broke into an airbase to sabotage US bombers at the outbreak of the Iraq war have been cleared of all charges. Protesters Toby Olditch, 38, and Philip Pritchard, 36, used bolt cutters to enter RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. They had intended to clog the planes' engines with nuts and bolts when they were arrested by Ministry of Defence police.

This afternoon, Tuesday 22 May, at Bristol Crown Court, the trial of two Oxford peace activists Philip Pritchard and Toby Olditch (known as the 'B52 Two') concluded with the jury returning a unanimous verdict of not-guilty- in less than three hours. The two were charged with conspiring to cause criminal damage at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 18 March 2003 when they tried to safely disable US B52 bombers to prevent them from bombing Iraq. The court heard the two men acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and war crimes by the aggressors.

Protesters who broke into an air base intending to sabotage B-52 bombers have been cleared of all charges. Toby Olditch, 38, and Philip Pritchard, 36, denied conspiring to cause criminal damage, saying they were trying to prevent war crimes in Iraq.

As you see from the title, the judge did his summing up this morning, and sent the jury off with instructions to reach a unanimous verdict, and directions about how to do so. More details of the summing up will be posted later - suffice to say it was balanced, and now it's up to the 11 good women and one good man. No news from them so far.

This afternoon, Tuesday 22 May, at Bristol Crown Court, the trial of two Oxford peace activists Philip Pritchard and Toby Olditch (known as the 'B52 Two') concluded with the jury returning a unanimous verdict of not-guilty- in less than three hours. The two were charged with conspiring to cause criminal damage at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 18 March 2003 when they tried to safely disable US B52 bombers to prevent them from bombing Iraq. The court heard the two men acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and war crimes by the aggressors.

Today was a day off. Well, weekends aren't really long enough, are they? As one of the jurors was unwell the prosecution, defence and judge all agreed to postpone the judge's summing up until at least Tuesday morning, when hopefully the absent juror will once more be well enough to concentrate through what might be a difficult day.

The closing speech for the defence began with Ed Rees commenting on Mr Blair’s suggestion that Toby and Phil should have waited for the result of the parliamentary debate on 18th March before trying to disarm the bombers. As Ed pointed out, MP’s were not voting on a motion to invade Iraq, let alone on whether to commit war crimes – the motion was to support the decision of the government to use any means necessary to achieve the disarmament of Iraq. He asserted that one could reasonably assume parliament would not have voted to endorse the excessive destruction of civilian infrastructure nor indiscriminate bombing.

The continuing cross-examination of Toby, and Phil’s examination, cross-examination and re-examination (the endurance of which must surely entitle each of them to some sort of legal qualification, or a badge at the very least!

...was closing speeches day, prosecution then defence. Neither of us bloggers managed to hear the prosecution one, so this is a second-hand report. Apologies to Mr Blair if I don't do justice to his speech, which by all accounts was very good, though of course Wrong and therefore not entirely a Good Thing (c.f. Sellar and Yeatman "1066 & All That" ? - keep up, everyone!) It's been described as very short and very measured, in contrast to the 'jowls quivering with outrage' school of speechifying which some of us may have experienced from a prosecuting QC in a parallel universe.

So, after lunch we all had a little sit down in front of the telly, watching the video that Phil and Toby had made before their action, which explained what they were going to do, what they hoped to achieve and the reasons why. The jurors appeared very focussed, concentrating throughout the 40 mins tape. It's good to see people paying serious attention, and watching it again reminds us why we're doing this.

Toby was sworn in and Ed's questions started - initially to give a thumbnail sketch of the beliefs that lead him to take this action and what he intended to do. He went through his understanding of the political and military lead-up to the invasion, including the situation post the first Gulf war since when the bombing of Iraq has never completely stopped. Toby talked about how previous conflicts have been conducted, such as the first Gulf war, Kosovo and Afghanistan; the weaponry and how it has been used, and the situation in Iraq resulting from years of punitive sanctions.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or in this case Tuesday pm at Bristol Crown Court, the prosecution's case continued with another witness, Detective Sergeant Kervin of the MOD police, who had interviewed Phil and Toby after their arrest. He, poor man, has been trailing round the country to all these hearings toting a hefty (and in some cases increasingly smelly) collection of the stuff P and T took with them into the base - these turn up each time sealed in plastic bags and labelled in the approved fashion as beloved of detective stories -'Exhibit A, m' lud.'

But we're getting ahead of ourselves - it's only day two. During which the indescribable legal arguments occupied the morning, and the jury action started at about midday with the prosecution reading statements made by the police who arrested the daring duo. These were followed by the presentation of an enormous number of things Phil and Toby took with them on the action. Personally I'd have thought the guards would have spotted the pantechnicon they must have used to carry it all before T and P could drive it through the fence A Team style and do donuts on the runway.

Things got under way with the prosecuting QC, Mr Blair, treating us to a brief summary of the case against Toby and Phil. He described what they did - from agreeing (conspiring) to go to Fairford, to cutting the fence and entering the base carrying peace poppies, pictures of Iraqi casualties of the first Gulf War, video and text explanations of their action, a banner, soil and seeds (to transform the runway into a peaceful place), and nuts and bolts to put in the aircraft engines.

First fact of the day: apparently, for the sake of the jury and due process the event we're attending is not to be referred to as a retrial. Things do seem oddly familiar though. Are you sure we haven't been here before? Is this a groundhog i see before me? OUT, OUT, DAMNED RODENT!

Philip Pritchard and Toby Olditch, two Oxford peace activists known at the 'B52 Two', will be retried on the morning of Monday 14 May 2007, not before 10 am, at Bristol Crown Court.. They are accused of conspiring to cause criminal damage at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on 18 March 2003 when they tried to safely disable B52 bombers to prevent them from bombing Iraq. The two men say they acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and war crimes by the aggressors.

In the four years since their arrest in March 2003 the Fairford Five have endured several court hearings, and trials at Bristol Crown Court. At Bristol Crown Court the juries would convict none of them. So our Justice System in its wisdom has decided to commit these five people, who refused to believe Blair’s lies, whose motives were simply selfless and humanitarian, for re-trial.

With the Fairford Retrials due to begin shortly - and a full timetable of trial dates expected soon - a story related to these trials which is often out of the picture, is the importance of Fairford as 1 of only 4 bases in the world fully equipped to house the U.S B-2 Stealth Bomber. Another of those bases is Diego Garcia...

Has the justice system got a grudge against peace protesters? During the recent prison overcrowding crisis, a man in North Wales is spared prison after pleading guilty to 10 charges of making indecent photographs of children while a peace protester is jailed for non-payment of fines. Now in Bristol, despite three hung jury verdicts the justice system has decided to resume the Fairford Trials.

apologies for the lack of posts during the week, had to be very careful during the actual trial not to publish anything that could be seen as potentially influencing the jury ?!? 24th January 2006 Trial verdict – Hung Jury. Here are the daily updates I wrote including the ones I couldn’t publish.

Although there has been no definitive verdict one way or another, it is heartening to think that a third, random group of 12 people from Bristol has been unwilling to convict individuals for taking direct action against the USAAF Fairford as it made preparations for, what I assume we must all generally understand by now, was a War against Peace (or War of Aggression, depending on what you’re reading).

Josh Richards attempted, unsuccessfully, to enter Fairford the day before the bombs began raining down on Iraq in March 2003. Yesterday afternoon, 24th January 2007 he walked away from Bristol Crown Court. After nine hours of deliberation, the jury was sure that they would not reach a majority decision. This is an observation from the public gallery.

First day of court started v.well with the Crown dropping the most serious charge of aggravated arson which had no upper limit on sentencing so was a big worry. Reasoning put to the judge was that the Crown witness had retired from the USAAF and couldn’t be found. V.good news, but not counting my chickens just yet… Below is a document I prepared for my solicitors in 2004 pre trial. Probably more information that anyone wants/needs but generally covers everything for those interested. I’ve not included the “attached” docs mentioned,

Peace, Josh

Josh Richards attempted, unsucessfully, to enter Fairford just before the Iraq invasion in March 2003. His trial began today Monday 15th January at Bristol Crown Court. This is an observation by one of the general public who attended court to show support for Josh.