Two anti-war campaigners who broke into an air base in Britain and caused damage to vehicles used to transport parts for Trident nuclear warheads were sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment yesterday.
Father Martin Newell (33) and a Dutch Catholic worker, Susan van der Hijden (31), were convicted of charges relating to the break-in at RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, last November.
Judge Alasdair Darroch said Newell and van der Hijden had "put the public purse to very considerable expense". After causing £28,000 worth of damage by smashing windows and spraying religious and political graffiti on vehicles in a workshop, they left brightly-coloured origami birds - symbols of peace - at the scene.
They then handed themselves up to a military police officer at the air base, presenting him with chocolates and flowers as they did so.
Despite their not guilty pleas, the defendants, both members of the anti-war movement Trident Ploughshares, said they carried out their actions because they believed nuclear weapons were illegal and they wanted to delay a convoy which they believed had been due to leave the air base.
In a statement, the Bishop of Brentwood, Dr Thomas McMahon, said: "Whilst we have long supported the case for the abolition of nuclear weapons we cannot approve" of this action.
In the light of the verdict, Bishop McMahon said he was going to consider Newell's future.