Court case after protest of 10 December 2001 at Northwood military base

by Stephen Hewitt, at Dacorum Magistrates Court, Hemel Hempstead, England

On 28 March 2002 Ciaron O'Reilly 41, Susan Clarkson 55, Scott Albrecht 39 appeared as defendants at Dacorum Magistrates Court in Hemel Hempstead on a charge of criminal damage. This followed their arrest on 10 December 2001 at a demonstration outside a military base Northwood Headquarters, Sandy Lane, Northwood, Hertfordshire HA6 3HB.

The three sprayed red paint onto the sign at the entrance to the base, set up small placards, knelt under the sign and prayed until they were arrested.

The background to this demonstration was rising number of civilian victims of the American aerial bombing campaign against Afghanistan. (See for example the dossier of Professor Herold of University of New Hampshire which shows over 3,600 civilians directly killed by American bombs by 10 December 2001 at http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm A report on his work appears in the Guardian 20 December 2001 at http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,622000,00.html )

A police video of this was shown in the court. The video showed Ciaron O'Reilly, Susan Clarkson and Scott Albrecht kneeling under the sign praying, and then showed them being peacefully arrested and led into a police van. It also showed a group of people demonstrating nearby and the sound of melodic chanting and a slow drumbeat could be heard on the video.

There is some evidence that the demonstration had a direct effect on the base. In part of his witness statement Nigel Rees, describing himself as "Base Security Officer at Northwood Headquarters" said

On Monday 10th December 2001, a protest occurred at the base. This was an anti-war protest that was planned. For the purposes of this protest no person was authorised to enter the base or to damage the perimeter fence. It should be mentioned that no person was authorised to enter the driveway at the main gate of the base as this is Crown land and requires the normal security checks and authority

As a direct result of this protest, civilian contractors were given special paid leave as the protest would affect the main entrances to the base. Military personnel within the base were told not to attend the base unless they were on duty or needed for essential duties.

The operational effectiveness of the base has not been affected.

The following are extracts from the police interviews with each of the three at Rickmansworth Police Station, in the afternoon of the same day, which were read out in court:

Extract of police interview with Scott Albrecht

DC Hutchings: Can you explain to me what, what it is?

Scott Albrecht: "Northwood is the commmand and control centre for the war in Afghanistan. It's part of a chain of comand, originating in Tampa, Florida, through the Ministry of Defence, through Northwood to the SAS and to, to ground troops in Afghanistan."

DC Hutchings: Right. OK.

Scott Albrecht: "The decisions are made at Northwood as to whether or not to perform bombing sorties, and to send, to send troops in to kill other people, including civilians."

DC Hutchings: and, and

Scott Albrecht: "The purpose of our visit was to commemorate the civilian dead in Afghanistan, to remember them".

DC Hutchings: But, but why Northwood?

Scott Albrecht: Because Northwood is complicit in the death of civilians

The following is a later part of the interview
PC Davies: Did you have permission to damage the signboard?

Scott Albrecht: It presumes the signboard is damaged.

PC Davies: The sign, the sign has been damaged, yes.

Scott Albrecht: From, in some estimations it may more accurately represent what the base is all about

PC Davies: Meaning what?

Scott Albrecht: Well meaning that if the if the base is about committing murder, the sign represents that more accurately because red is symbolic of death. And some some may assume that the sign is damaged, others may assume that it more accurately represents the goings on at the base. I, I take the latter position.

Extract of police interview with Ciaron O'Reilly:

Ciaron O'Reilly: Ok I don't regard any action I took this morning as either criminal or damaging. Under the public nature of the action I took this morning was to aware police officers and members of the public to crimes being inspired and committed in Northwood, which would include the ongoing sanctions against Iraq, that have killed over half a million children, and the indiscriminate nature of the aerial bombardment in Afghanistan, and how Northwood has contributed to that, and also the continuing support of the Saudi Arabian dictatorship who produced the Taliban and Al quaeda Network. So that's it for me.

DC Hutchings: Will you be wanting to say anything else, or are you

Ciaron O'Reilly: No that's all.

Extract of police interview with Susan Clarkson

DC Hutchings: Could you explain to me your part in, in what happened this morning?

Susan Clarkson: Yes. This morning I went to Northwood Headquarters in a desire to, to express my sorrow about the war that is going on in Afghanistan and war making in general, which has its, often its inspiration from places like Northwood Headquarters. And my intention was simply to do a symbolic action to turn the sign of the Northwood Headquarters into a shrine for the dead. And to this end I placed red paint as a symbol of blood on the sign and the paint which also was on my hands, is a sign to me of my own complictiy as a, a member of a citizen of this country in the war making machine. After placing red paint on the sign, I turned round, knelt down and placed in front of me pictures of the war in Afghanistan. Cards with names of countries where there has been conflict over the past 20 or 30 years, in which our, Britain has been involved, and these cards commemorated the dead of those conflicts. And I spent some time in prayer until the moment I was arrested.

The case was heard by three magistrates and lasted all day, and the court was attended by around a dozen friends and supporters, some of who also mounted a small demonstration with banners on a nearby busy street.

The three were found guilty and given a conditional discharge for 12 months, and ordered jointly to pay 200 pounds compensation, but the prosecution application for costs was refused.

Related links

Multimap reference for Northwood base

Reports by Ciaron O'Reilly at


From left to right Susan Clarkson, Scott Albrecht and Ciaron O'Reilly, after the court case on 28 March 2002
With supporters