The Edmonton Five outside Wood Green court
Heard before His Honour Judge Mervyn Roberts
Crown Prosecution Service: Mr Christopher Ball QC and Mr Morris
Defending: Mr Owen Davies QC and Ms Judy Khan
The day began with the cross examination of Mr Richard Bland, mechanical engineer at Edmonton Incinerator, by Ms Judy Khan . Mr Bland agreed that London Waste Ltd had commissioned a survey of the condition of the tower after the Greenpeace occupation which had identified the need for six urgent repairs and five less urgent repairs.
He conceded, however, that none of the repairs resulted from the activities of Greenpeace in securing anchors in the concrete and in fact concerned such matters as the long term deterioration of the concrete parapet. When asked whether any of the urgent repairs identified in October had been completed, Mr Bland admitted that they had not. Mr Bland also admitted to poor housekeeping in the chimney with debris allowed to accumulate on platforms.
Two statements by employees of London Waste Ltd were then read out to the court. Both statements from Anthony Clinton, Operations Manager at Edmonton Incinerator, and Stephen Webb, Control Room Supervisor at Edmonton Incinerator, described the events of the morning of 9th October 2000 when Greenpeace volunteers began the occupation of the plant.
A statement by police photographer Russell Shipton was also read out to the court which described the fixings used to attach a banner to the side of the concrete chimney at the plant.
The final witness for the day was Police Constable Ian Caddy who described the arrests of the defendants when they gaves themselves up to the police on the morning of 13th October 2000. Some items from the rucksack of defendant Rob Gueterbock were presented to the court including a Hilti nail gun and a folder of campaign materials.
The case continues.
