Martin from LCW sentenced

Father Martin Newell of the London Catholic Worker community was sentenced to 24 days imprisonment Friday Dec 9th 2011 at Highbury Magistrates Court. Martin was brought before the court for refusing to pay a fine arising from cutting into the Northwood Headquarters, London in December 2008. The anti-war direct action was timed for the "Feast of the Holy Innocents" on the Catholic liturgical calendar. The feast day follows Christmas and commemorates the massacre of children in a search and destroy mission by King Herod who saw the birth of Christ as a threat to his power.

From the dock Fr. Newell stated

I work with refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan at the Catholic Worker. I am opposed to the wars we have been waging on these countries. I have nonviolently resisted these wars since they began. I'm refusing to pay this fine as a form of further non-cooperation with these wars.

Northwood Headquarters is the command centre for British forces deployed overseas. The base has been the location of a number of nonviolent direct actions by the pacifist Catholic Worker community over the past decade of war on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Martin is in HMP Pentonville. Solidarity messages can be sent to

Martin Newell, c/- Giuseppe Conlon House, 49 Mattison Rd, Harringay, London, N4 1BG.

We'll forward messages to Martin.

Martin from LCW in custody

Yesterday Chris Cole and Fr. Martin Newell were formally charged at West End police station with "criminal damage". The charges result from the NVDA taken at Downing Street on 7th Oct 2011 marking the 10th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan. For background on the action take a look at this video or read this report.

Chris and Martin have been given a court date at Westminister Magistrates at 10 a.m. on 19th Dec 2011. Police have decided to take "no further action" on four others arrested in the October action - Maya Evans, Ben Griffin, John Lynes and Ciaron O'Reilly

Martin was taken into custody this morning on an old warrant relating to nonviolent anti-war resistance. He is presently being held at the West End/ London police station and will be taken to a court for sentencing on the old warrant today or tomorrow. At the present time we have no further word from the police on Martin.

Martin is a member of the London Catholic Worker; he has previously served 8 months in prison for his participation in the Jubilee Ploughshares 2000 nonviolent disabling. of the nuclear convoy vehicle en transit from Aldermaston to Faslane. In June 2011, Martin was found guilty of charges relating to a 2010 action at Aldermaston.

Forthcoming Events

We've got two forthcoming events that you might be interested in...

Free Bradley Manning! End the wars!

From 2pm, Saturday 17th Square, US embassy, Grosvenor Square: The closest tube is Bond Street; there will be speakers, music and an open mic. This solidarity event outside the U.S. embassy in London will be on Bradley's 24th. birthday - a day that many of his supporters will gather outside of Ft. Meade and U.S. embassies worldwide. We invite you to join us in London to demand FREEDOM FOR BRADLEY MANNING and an END TO THE WARS!

Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, faces life in prison for allegedly sharing a video of a U.S. helicopter attack that killed 11 civilians and seriously wounded two children in Baghdad, Iraq with the WikiLeaks website. The footage had been withheld by the U.S.military from those trying to discover the truth about the attacks.

More info at collateralmurder.com, bradleymanning.org and wiseupforbradleymanning.wordpress.com.

Anti-nuclear resistance celebration and planning

This year marks 30 years of continuous faithful Christian anti-nuclear witness at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Ash Wednesday. Many people have risked arrest, been arrested and served prison time over the years as an act of repentance for nuclear terror, and to call for repentance from this terrorism.

We are helping to organise an event on Saturday 7th January 2011 to celebrate this witness and, for those who wish, to plan for the future. This is a good opportunity to find out more about how to begin taking challenging action for peace and justice. All welcome.

Wishing you all a very peaceful and hope filled Advent season as we prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace, who came among us poor and powerless to bring down the mighty from their thrones, and raise up the lowly.