Legal

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A relatively short blog today (I thought you deserved it after yesterday's dissertation).

The judge finished summing up before lunch and, at 12.50pm, the jury retired to consider the verdict. By the end of the day, after a fair bit of pacing and nail biting in the defendants' camp, the jury said they hadn't yet been able to reach a unanimous verdict. So the trial - and the slightly frayed nerves - continue into Wednesday. 

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We were expecting to hear evidence from Inuit leader Aqqaluk Lynge today but, because a juror fell ill, that's been postponed until Monday. Instead, the court held a legal discussion, none of which I can write about.

We're tentatively expecting a verdict early next week but, of course, nobody really knows. At the moment though, we're on the train back to London; the defendants are tired but in good spirits, and looking forward to a short window of normality before the case resumes next week. More on Monday.

Defendent Ben Stewart

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It's hard to say whether there were more or fewer nerves on the way to court today. On the one hand all the defendants now feel - visibly - more comfortable with the court surroundings than they were at the start of the proceedings yesterday.

On the other hand, today was the day some of them were going to take the stand for the first time. Either way, listening to the Star Wars theme tune blaring over the radio as we made our way to Maidstone in the minibus could only be a good thing for morale.

We filed into the court room at around 11am. By 11.30 - after circulating some documents to the jurors - the prosecution had closed; it was the turn of the defence.

The defendant's QC, Michael Wolkind, is a pleasure to watch at work. He started by introducing six "of the nicest people... accused of saving the planet".

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This morning, the Kingsnorth Six - plus a few hangers on like myself - made their way from a rural Kent retreat to Maidstone Crown Court for the start of the Kingsnorth trial.

I've spent the day watching the proceedings from the public gallery. (It's my first time in a Crown Court and I'm pleased to report that it's all true: the court really does all rise, there are curly wigs, and barristers really do look up the finer points of law in thick legal compendia.)

Actually, the whole experience is fascinating; the careful negotiations, the nuances of argument and the hints of theatricality have all left me a little agog. And having a friend's-eye view of the defendants and their motives makes it pretty poignant too.