Helen John, 68, shortly after she appeared in Mildenhall Magistrates Court on Thursday morning. She will stand trial in October for allegedly attempting to break onto RAF Lakenheath with a claw hammer and the intent to damage Air Force property. (Bryan Mitchell / S&S)
MILDENHALL, England — A British woman who allegedly attempted to break into a U.S. Air Force Base with a claw hammer will have her case heard in the region’s top criminal court, it was decided during a hearing Thursday.
Helen John, 68, a peace activist who twice ran unsuccessfully for Parliament, is scheduled to appear Oct. 5 in Bury St. Edmunds Crown Court, a Mildenhall Magistrates Court clerk said.
John, who is involved in an anti-war movement that has staged protests across the United Kingdom over the past several months, faces one count of breaking a temporary traffic order and one count of intent to destroy or damage property.
The retired midwife from Yorkshire was arrested twice by Ministry of Defence officers on May 24 after allegedly attempting, and failing, to break into RAF Lakenheath.
John admits to carrying a claw hammer at the time of the arrest and said she plans to continue protesting against the presence of the U.S. military in the United Kingdom.
“I want to cause damage to stop that base from functioning,” John said shortly after her hearing Thursday. “We have no control over these bases, and they should be thrown out of the country.”
John said she has spent about three months in jail on two or three separate occasions related to her civil disobedience.
John pledged to the court to stay away from RAF Lakenheath until her court date in eight weeks but said her fight to expel the U.S. military from the United Kingdom will continue regardless of the outcome in court. She said she may again strike at RAF Lakenheath.
