Five back in court over damage to US warplane at Shannon

Five Catholic Worker peace activists, accused of causing $2.5 million worth of damage to a US navy plane at Shannon Airport, are back in court on Monday 24 October, after two and a half years on bail.

Their first trial, at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in March this year, collapsed when Judge Frank O'Donnell discharged the jury. The five accused, Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran and Ciaron O'Reilly, argued that by disarming the plane, on 3 February 2003, they were protecting "other people and property", namely in Iraq.

If found guilty, the activists could face prison terms. However, according to Damien Moran, they have "no regrets" about their action. Their defence relies on Section 6 of the Criminal Damage Act 1991, which provides for a "lawful excuse", where the damage is caused "in order to protect... another or property belonging to... another."

Senator David Norris said he believed "they should be found innocent, because of the provisions of that particular Act". Norris cited the "compelling precedent of the verdict handed down by the English courts in the Ploughshares case", a reference to the 1996 acquittal of four women after they broke into a British Aerospace plant and damaged a Hawk jet, which was due to be sold to Indonesia for use against civilians in East Timor.

The five and their supporters will hold a vigil procession every morning of the trial from the Spire to the Four Courts.

William Hederman

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