Gaza Protest Trial Adjourned to Brighton
The trial of three local men charged with aggravated trespass at a community protest outside a St Leonards armaments factory in February has been adjourned to a further hearing in Brighton in January next year.
The protest, organised by the Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign (HDPSC), related to the continuing manufacture of weapon systems by the US firm General Dynamics for sale to the Israeli Defence Force for use in Gaza. The men – Laurie Holden (71, a retired train driver), Clem McCullough (33, an NHS worker) and Thomas Delves (24, an artist), who have together been styled #Hastings3 – are alleged to have obstructed, disrupted and/or intimidated workers at the site.
Hastings Magistrates were due to try the case in a one-day hearing on 27 August, and around 50 supporters of the #Hastings3 gathered at the steps of the court for a rally to “show solidarity and demand an end to arms sales to Israel”. However, the Crown prosecutor Piers Restell requested a delay to consider legal points of human rights law submitted by defence solicitors Hodge, Jones and Allen, and it was mutually agreed that the case would be better suited to be tried by a District Judge with appropriate legal experience.
Lead magistrate, Dr Rebekah Gilbert, told the parties: “There are issues on both sides here that need to be addressed.”
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