THE trial of two peace campaigners brought under new anti-terror laws took a dramatic twist yesterday as proceedings were halted for legal experts to analyse the legislation.The case
against grandmothers Helen John, 69, and Sylvia Boyes, 63, was adjourned until next month after District Judge Martin Walker said the trial had entered uncharted legal territory.
John, defending herself, introduced new case law at Harrogate Magistrates' Court and accused the Government of acting in "bad faith" when it labelled a US military base as a designated site
under the new anti-terror legislation.
The two pensioners were arrested at the US signals intelligence station at Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, under the new Serious Organised Crime and Police Act on April 1 last year - the day
the legislation came into force.
They were charged with the new offence of criminal trespass, but John questioned whether the Menwith Hill base should have been included under the new legislation.
The district judge adjourned the trial until April 17 so lawyers could consider the matter, and added: "This is the first case brought under this particular Act and this particular section.
I cannot see it will be possible to continue without looking at the specific authorities."
Anthony Dunne, prosecuting, said the two campaigners made their way around the outermost security barriers at Menwith Hill. Both were stopped within seconds by armed officers from the
Ministry of Defence Police.
John was warned by the district judge that the witness box should not be used as a "soap box" after the court had heard an outspoken statement she had given during police interviews.
Boyes, who appeared in court yesterday wearing a "No Star Wars" T-shirt, sacked her defence counsel, James Keeley, at the end of the prosecution case and now defends herself. John had
already opted to defend herself.
On the first day of the trial on Tuesday, the court repeatedly watched a two-and-a-half minute video made by security cameras at Menwith Hill, which showed Boyes and John walking in past
armed guards at the main entrance.
The two women were wearing sandwich boards saying: "No to Star Wars", "Close US bases everywhere", "This land is not yours to put barriers around" and "Women say no to all war".
Mr Dunne said the campaigners ignored repeated requests to leave and were arrested and taken to Harrogate Police Station.
Boyes was found to have a hammer in a backpack and John had a large pair of cable cutters.
According to Mr Dunne, both women told police they were opposed to the new law and had set out to challenge its provisions.
The court heard that John gave a written statement to police when she was charged on June 19 last year, claiming the new anti-terror laws were a "severe blow to civil liberties and human
rights".
The campaigner's statement also accused the Government of introducing the legislation to "protect American war fighting capability" within the UK.
The judge varied the grandmothers' bail conditions to allow them to go within 100 metres of Menwith Hill.
John, from Wimborne Drive, and Boyes, from Wren Street, both in Keighley, deny the charge.
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