An EVESHAM anti-war protestor walked from court last Friday after being found guilty of damaging the gates at RAF Fairfield.

Kate Holcombe, of West Street, was one of three defendants who demonstrated outside the Gloucestershire base in February against its use by American aircraft in the war with Iraq.

On the third day of the trial last Friday, two were convicted. Geoffrey Cornock (46) and Katherine Holcombe (43) were each given a conditional discharge for two years after a jury found them guilty of criminal damage. Cornock - who was acquitted of a separate charge of going to the anti-war demo carrying a pair of wirecutters with intent to cause damage - was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to the Ministry of Defence.

A jury had heard how Cornock, Holcombe and a co-defendant, Owen English (20), had been instrumental in causing more than £10,000 worth of damage to gates at Fairford. Recorder Ford ruled there was insufficient evidence against English and he was discharged, but the trial of his co-defendants continued.

Holcombe told the court that protestors at Fairford had been more dramatic than dangerous. "The event was organised to coincide with inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," she said. "We were carrying out a similar thing at Fairford by demanding to be let in - it was street theatre."

The defendant, a former army wife, said she had rattled the gate but she denied damaging it. Cornock, who lives in Cardiff, denied prosecution claims that he had gone to Fairford with the intention of causing damage. He told the court that he thought the gates would be 'more secure' than they proved to be.