George Fox six found guilty
Students at Lancaster University rallied outside the George Fox building yesterday in support of six fellow students found guilty of aggravated trespass. Rachael Jackson, Anthony Ayre, Keith Richardson, Joanne Moody, Matthew Wilson and Rhiannon Westphal were all arrested at a protest outside the building last year. They were protesting against a meeting aimed at building closer relations between private companies and the university. The protesters objected to the event because several companies associated with the arms industry were involved in the meeting. This was particularly sensitive as the building is named after George Fox, the Quaker leader, who had close links with the city of Lancaster. Local Quaker groups had complained to university authorities that the building should not be used for militarist purposes as pacifism is a foundation of Quaker beliefs.
The six demonstrators were charged with aggravated trespass, a criminal offence, five months after their initial arrest outside the building. Their case was tried at Lancaster Magistrates' Court last month. The six were found guilty of aggravated trespass by District Judge Peter Ward, but the court decided not to impose custodial sentences. The six had been supported by the civil rights organization Liberty, the NUS, AUT, Lancaster Trades Council and Scientists for Global Responsibility amongst others. The NUS stated that: "It is clear the Orwellian nightmare is alive in Lancaster, and we at NUS cannot express our anger at this decision strongly enough. Freedom of speech is under attack wherever you go, but nowhere more so than university campuses, which have always been hotbeds of political activity and radical thought. This attempt by Lancaster University to argue that students committed trespass on their own campus when voicing a legitimate protest was always absolutely absurd."
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