Hastings 3 found not guilty in arms company anti-genocide protest case

Three men prosecuted for participating in a peaceful protest at arms manufacturer General Dynamics in Hastings were found not guilty of all charges at Brighton Law Courts on Wednesday.

Laurie Holden, 72, Clem McCulloch, 33, and Thomas Delves, 25 – collectively known as the ‘Hastings 3’ – were arrested for aggravated trespass on 29 February last year during a protest at one of the firm’s two sites in the East Sussex town.

The three activists told the court that they were at General Dynamics on that day to disrupt the business of the weapons manufacturers and to slow production down. Delves said:

I believed it was the right thing to do to stop the weapons factory in any way I could because it was supplying weapons to a genocide in Gaza. I thought my actions would have a somewhat immediate impact as the promise of the weapons gave confidence to the Israeli government to continue.

He added that he had decided to sit in front of one of the site’s entrances as it was ‘peaceful but still effective’.

Retired train driver Holden said:

There was a genocide going on, the ultimate crime against humanity and General Dynamics was playing a major role in that crime, making a lot of weapons, like 2,000 lb bombs. I know people in Gaza who were being affected by it.

Delves and Holden were arrested for aggravated trespass but McCulloch said he got upset and decided to stand in their place as they were being forcibly removed from the protest:

I believed it was the right thing to do. I knew General Dynamics manufactured arms and related equipment which were used not just during the genocide but in the years previously, providing ordinance and equipment to the IDF to be used in Palestine.

All three men were physically dragged from the protest and held in a cell for thirteen hours before being charged under a Section 69 order of failing to comply with an order from the police to move off land when directed to do so.

The court heard evidence from the two arresting officers as well as General Dynamics’ UK Head of Security – a Mr Hoffman – who gave his evidence behind a screen claiming he feared repercussions if the defendants saw his face.

Protest police liaison officer PC Freeman said he had worked alongside the protest organisers for a number of months and confirmed that all the actions were peaceful and added that on the day of the arrest:

It was a very peaceful protest and my only concern was the fire exit.

Footage from a bodycam worn by Freeman showed him asking Mr Delves and Mr Holden to move out of the way of the door, to which Mr Holden replied: ‘We’re more concerned with the weapons that are being made in this building. Stopping a genocide is far more important. We want to stop genocide, that’s why we’re here.’

Asked if he would have moved out of the way of the exit had there been a fire in the building, Delves said:

Of course. The idea was to get people out of the building!

Freeman’s body cam footage also showed that when a female protestor asked if she could stay on site, he confirmed that she could and said police were only interested in clearing the fire exits.

Defence counsel moved to have the case dismissed on the grounds of no case to answer since the three men were simply instructed to move away from an exit they were blocking and not given clear direction to ‘leave the land’.

‘There must be some degree of formality other than just ‘get out of the way’,’ argued Mr Sergent.

District Judge Amanda Kelly agreed:

It seems to be agreed that there was no clear order given to the men of what they were being told to do or where to go.

She found all three not guilty.

Katy Colley, chair of Hastings and District Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organised the protest, described the three as totally vindicated ‘heroes’:

This is a total vindication of the Hastings Three. It was outrageous that our friends were put through this ordeal for nearly a year, dragged through a criminal court case at a huge cost to the taxpayer. And for what? To protect  Genocide Dynamics, which has been supplying weapons to a state which is in the dock for genocide.

Our friends our heroes. They put their bodies on the line to try to stop a genocide. They did what they could to prevent the senseless slaughter of thousands of innocent Palestinians. General Dynamics are the criminals. It was telling that while our friends held their heads high and spoke openly of their motives, the head of security was hiding behind a screen. Perhaps he is ashamed of defending merchants of death.

This whole case should never have happened. The justice system is being abused to criminalise peaceful protest, wasting precious court time and taxpayer money to defend a company that makes billions in profits every year from death and destruction.

General Dynamics is the world’s fifth largest arms company. It makes the MK80 bombs that have been dropped on Gaza over the fifteen months of Israel’s genocide, contibuting to the 47,000 confirmed deaths, many more who have not been formally counted because their bodies are still buried under rubble, and massive destruction to homes and civilian infrastructure.

The company has been the target of fourteen local protests since Israel’s war on Gaza’s civilians began. The firm has admitted that the protests had ‘significantly disrupted operations’ at its sites. A statement to the court read:

The frequency and presence of unauthorized individuals on our sites, in combination with flags/placards referencing ‘Genocide Dynamics’ as opposed to ‘General Dynamics’ has likely damaged our business’s reputation. If this negative perception continues this could result in a decline in patronage and a loss of trust within the community.

These ongoing incidents of trespassing have significantly disrupted our operations and had a detrimental impact on our business, employees and third parties in a number of ways.

Trespassers have frequently interrupted our business operations. This includes interference with daily activities, delays in service delivery, and the necessity to temporarily close sections of our premises for security reasons. Such disruptions are likely to have led to a decrease in productivity as staff have had to adjust their locations and hours of work in response.’

Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Laurie Holden pledged to continue the campaign to stop General Dynamics supplying military equipment to Israel and appealed for others to join him at the next protest at the General Dynamics site at 10am on Friday 24 January. A further protest against the firm will take place in Hastings Town Centre at noon on Saturday 1 Feb.

Keir Starmer’s government is waging war on protest against and exposure of Israel’s war crimes by abusing legislation to harass, raid and prosecute activists and journalists, many of them Jewish.

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