Anti-war activist guilty of damaging US aircraft

Anti-war activist, Mary Kelly (52), was last night convicted by a jury for the criminal damage she caused to a US navy aircraft at Shannon Airport.

The jury at Ennis Circuit Court found Kelly guilty of causing damage of €1.1 million to a 737 US navy aircraft at Shannon Airport on January 29th, 2003, without lawful cause. She took an axe to the aircraft that touched down in the airport en route to Italy.

The accused is to be sentenced today by Judge Carroll Moran.

Kelly, who represented herself in the six-day trial, was greeted by applause from supporters as she left the Ennis courthouse. "I am saddened by the verdict, but not surprised, I did my very best to show the jury the true facts around this case. My defence was hindered and closed down from the beginning by the trial judge," she read from a statement.

"Under the circumstances, the jury could hardly have found the truth of the matter regarding my innocence or guilt. They are not to blame for this. The case will go to appeal and the final verdict has not yet been spoken."

Judge Moran refused the expert witness accounts of former assistant UN secretary general Denis Halliday and Professor of International Law Curtis Doebbler on Kelly's behalf.

"I did not want this case to degenerate into a political debate," the judge explained to the jury yesterday. "This is not a case to consider the legality of the war in Iraq." Their evidence, he argued, was not relevant to the charge of criminal damage.

"People act frequently to take actions on principle of conscience and if they break the law, they take the consequences and this is a matter for you to consider," Judge Moran said as he addressed the jury.

Kelly argued she had lawful excuse to damage the aircraft as she was trying to save life in Iraq.

In his charge to the jury, Judge Moran said the defence of lawful excuse does not apply in this case as there was no connection in space or time between the act carried out by Kelly and the person or property she was claiming to protect.

In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Stephen Coughlan BL, for the State, said that even if Kelly was acting to prevent a crime, she was engaging in an act of vigilantism.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," he said, adding that the act was premeditated and that the force used by her was excessive.

Kelly made an impassioned and highly charged address to the jury when she said: "I didn't run away. I wanted to be responsible and be accountable for my actions to stop the daily slaughter that is going on . . . I acted to save life and property."

The accused asked Judge Moran to adjourn sentencing to today, saying she was "not prepared to deal with this situation".

This is the second time the case has been brought before a court. In June 2003, a jury failed to reach a verdict on her fate.