Six people, including Gerard Rice, spokesman for the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community, and a Sinn Fein councillor, Michael Ferguson, were convicted yesterday of obstructing the Ormeau Road in south Belfast during a protest demonstration last August.
Also found guilty at Belfast Magistrates Court of the same charge was Sinn Fein former MLA Susan Ramsey. All six were fined £75 and said afterwards they would be appealing against conviction.
Patrick Larkin was also convicted of two charges of assaulting the police and fined £75 on each count, and Alexander McCrory was fined £75 for one assault on police. The sixth defendant to be convicted and fined was Edward Maginn.
Seven others, including a Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Sean Hayes, were acquitted when magistrate Mr Mark Hamill said he attached little or no weight to the identification evidence.
The charges arose out of a sit-down protest on the Ormeau Road on the morning of August 14th, 1999, against an Apprentice Boys' parade.