British Judges rule nuclear weapons are legal

Anti-Trident campaigners vow to fight on despite a ruling by three High Court judges that Britain's nuclear deterrent is not illegal.

The judgment follows the acquittal of three women peace campaigners, in October 1999, of damaging a laboratory at Coulport.

Greenock Sheriff Margaret Gimblett accepted the women's argument that nuclear weapons are illegal under international law and they had a right to commit crimes to prevent their use.

But at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lords Prosser, Kirkwood and Penrose, ruled against her judgment. However, the acquittal of the three protesters still stands.

Outside the court, Angie Zelter, one of the women arrested and later freed after the Coulport incident, said she is very disappointed.

She was part of a group of peace campaigners who held an all-night vigil outside the court before hearing the judgment.

"Even if the result had been yes, yes, yes, yes, we would still have had to continue with our campaign because you can't trust anything on paper in this world," she said.

"You can't trust politicians, you can't trust just words, you have to trust people's actions and we have got to get rid of weapons of mass destruction."