Trident protest: pensioners arrested
Four pensioners were arrested yesterday (Thursday) with six younger people, bringing the total number of arrests to 97 at the Faslane naval base protest. Hundreds of Trident Ploughshares campaigners are staging a two-week long demonstration objecting to the presence of 100 megaton warheads at the armaments depot on Loch Long, Scotland. The group sat in the road at the main gate of the depot holding placards which jointly spelled out the slogan, 'Shift to peace work'. They were: Joan Meredith, 70, retired teacher of the deaf from Alnwick, Northumberland; Angie Zelter, 49, from Norfolk, one of the 'Trident three'; Davida Higgin, 73, from Norwich; Joy Mitchell, 67, retired head teacher, Berwick; Peter Lanyon, 67, retired teacher from Suffolk; Andrew Gray, 32, a librarian from County Durham; Sylvia Boyes, from Manchester; and Elle, 19, a student from Amsterdam. Zoe Weir, 24, and Kreb Dragonrider, 42, both from Faslane Peace Camp, were arrested when they climbed the depot's perimeter fence. Zoe got several hundred yards inside the base before being apprehended. On Wednesday another protester, Jenny Gaiawyn, was sentenced to seven days in Cornton Vale women's prison by Helensburgh district court for her part in the protest. She refused on principle to pay a fine imposed for a previous disarmament action. A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said: "We will continue to expose and confront this store for weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction. We are filled with a sense of shame every time we see its ugly outline."