Women disarming Trident are running up a credible score against Crown prosecutors with September's jury acquittal on one charge and failure to conclude a verdict on the other charge facing the "Aldermaston Women Trash Trident" duo of Rosie James and Rachel Wenham.

The Crown's ordeal began in February, 1999, when the women from Leeds, affiliated with the Trident Ploughshares 2000 campaign, swam 300 meters unchallenged to board the Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarine HMS Vengeance, docked at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyards. Once aboard the massive submarine, they proceeded to damage radio equipment on the conning tower, hang a "Women Want Peace" banner and label the sub an "Illegal Death Machine."

Their trial on two counts of criminal damage each first began last January, but was postponed days later when prosecutors could not substantiate a last-minute four-fold increase in the cost of the alleged damage.

Prosecution resumed September 11 in Manchester Crown Court. In addition to the defendants' testimony about Britain's legal obligation for nuclear disarmament, their own responsibility to pursue that obligation, and what they had done about it before resorting to hammers, several experts testified on their behalf.

Angie Zelter, co-founder of Trident Ploughshares 2000 and herself twice acquitted of criminal charges arising from disarmament actions, gave evidence of the campaign's exhaustive and to date unsuccessful efforts for conventional remedy to the government's illicit nuclear war preparations. Prof. Paul Rodgers, Peace Studies professor at Bradford University, and Rebecca Johnson, Executive Director of the Acronym Institute and an expert on nuclear non-proliferation, both testified to the immediacy of the nuclear threat as a policy option for British forces in today's global politics.

Justice Humphries instructed the jury to consider defenses of necessity/duress and acting to protect property or life. The defense of preventing the greater crime was not to be entertained. Prior to summing up, Rachel Wenham dispensed with the services of her barrister so that she could personally address the jury. She used her time to emphasize the threat of nuclear war, and appealed to the jurors to heed their conscience as the judgment at Nuremberg calls us to do.

On Tuesday, September 19, after four hours of deliberation, the jury announced a majority verdict of not guilty of spray-painting on the vessel. The next day and two more hours of deliberation later, the jury declared they were unable to reach a verdict on the charge of hammering on test equipment. The crown has indicated it will appeal the verdict, and a new trial date in March, 2001 is anticipated.

Following the verdict, Rosie Wenham said, "Despite the efforts of the U.K. government, this case has shown that the moral conscience of the British people is alive and kicking! An English jury has seen the truth about Britain's nuclear weapons system and has questioned the moral and legal legitimacy of Trident."

For more information, contact Aldermaston Women Trash Trident at awtt@hotmail.com or c/o the Aldermaston Women's Peace Campaign, 20 Tennyson Rd., Southampton, Hampshire, Britain SO17 2GW.