30 years ago 10 women (Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson, Lotta Kronlid, Lyn Bliss, Clare Fearnley, Emily Johns, Jen Parker, Ricarda Steinbrecher, and Rowan Tilly) conspired to disarm a war plane. They stopped its delivery to Indonesia to commit genocide in East Timor. In July 1996 a jury delivered justice: “Not Guilty”. Seeds of Hope Ploughshares women, invite you to join them, reflect on that event and celebrate acts of disarmament before and since. Stories, music, film, conversation, food. All welcome. If you could rsvp joannablackman63@gmail.com that would help with catering etc.
On 29 January 1996, Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson, and Lotta Kronlid broke into BAe's Warton Aerodrome and caused between £1.4m and £2.5m worth of damage to Hawk jet fighter ZH955. Damage focused on components related to weapons and targeting. The damage or disarmament was done to the Hawk with ordinary household hammers. The warplane was part of a £500 million deal to supply 24 planes to the New Order regime of Indonesia. In the tradition of Ploughshares actions, they stayed at the site intending to wait until they were found by security; however, they had to call security using a phone in the hangar because their presence remained unnoticed. They were arrested for criminal damage and conspiracy to commit criminal damage. A week later, a fourth woman, Angie Zelter, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy after stating she planned to do the same. The four spent six months on remand before a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in July 1996.
