Peace campaigner fined

Pat Sanchez and the squirrel at Faslane

Local peace campaigner, Pat Sanchez of Littleborough, has appeared before Helensburgh District court, charged with behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace and was fined £75. However, Pat argued that her actions were, in fact, defending peace and that what she had done was fully justified in view of the "illegality" of nuclear weapons.

Pat is an active member of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group who have already launched an appeal to pay her fine and costs. Philip Gilligan, on behalf of the group, said: “Anyone who wants to help should send a cheque payable to “R&LPG” to 1 High Peak, Littleborough, OL15 0LQ. We know that many will.”

When arrested in October 2007, Mrs Sanchez was protesting against the Trident nuclear weapons system and the government’s plans to upgrade it. She was lying in the road outside the Faslane nuclear base whilst attached with a pair of thumb cuffs to fellow peace campaigners. One of these was dressed as a giant squirrel. Mrs Sanchez and her sciuridaean companion were taking part in the ‘Big Blockade’ at the end of the year long Faslane 365 campaign which saw 1,110 arrests, as protesters made daily attempts to close the Faslane nuclear base through non-violent action.

This is not the first time that Mrs Sanchez has been fined for protests at Faslane. However, she says she remains determined to "continue to work for peace and for a nuclear free future".

Mrs Sanchez added: "Our idea was to try to stop work on the Trident submarines. They carry the UK's genocidal weapon of mass destruction. Some people may think that the nuclear threat comes from elsewhere, but, in fact, it is the USA, the UK, Russia and Israel who harbour the world’s largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Hundreds of people of all ages and all walks of life were at the demonstration, on 1 October and 180 of us were arrested. Some just sat down in front of the gates and refused to budge. Others super-glued themselves to the tarmac and to each other. Others attached themselves to each other with chains hidden inside stout tubing. I was thumb-cuffed to a seven foot red squirrel, bearing a placard saying, 'Nuts to Trident', although, in court the police claimed that they had not seen the squirrel and that I was lying in the road on my own!

"The atmosphere on 1 October was a bit like a carnival, with music, dancing, singing and clowning, but the purpose was deadly serious. We aimed to stop work however we could on the weapons of mass destruction housed at the Faslane base.

"Nuclear weapons are immoral, illegal and a hideous misuse of public funds. As a responsible citizen I feel that I have a duty to be aware of the harm done by them and to take action according to my conscience. Nuclear weapons threaten genocide and, therefore, contravene the Nuremberg Conventions. The government’s plans to upgrade the Trident nuclear weapons system contravene the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as does its collusion with NATO’s policy of ‘first use’. I shall continue to visit Faslane and continue to work for a nuclear free future."