A FORMER teacher has told a jury how she cut down maize for two-and-half hours in protest against genetically modified crops.
Barbara Charvet feared that the GM plants on a research site would contaminate other crops by cross-pollination.
She said that up to 20 protesters were expected to destroy maize at Rosemaund Farm in Preston Wynne, Herefordshire, but only four of the cutting party turned up.
Worcester Crown Court heard that two protesters got away, but Charvet and James Ridout were arrested on August 5 last year.
Charvet, aged 59, of Wern Derys, Michaelchurch Escley, and landscape gardener Ridout, 26, of The Lyons, Orcop, both Herefordshire, deny criminal damage and argue that they had a lawful excuse.
Charvet, a married woman, took part in a demonstration outside a branch of Tesco's in 1998 against the use of GM crops in the store's products, the jury heard.
But she had a negative attitude towards campaigners until she saw women cutting crops on a TV film and felt moved by their actions.
''I admired what they were doing and wondered whether I would have the courage to do such a thing,'' she said in the witness box. ''I felt it was a very bold thing to do.''
Last year she joined the World Development Movement, whose aim was to help Third World countries fight oppression by the big corporations.
Later, on a land use course, she came to think that GM crops were very dangerous and wanted to do something that would make a real impact.
Charvet said maize contained millions of pollen grains that could be carried on the wind for miles.
She and Ridout knew the 15-acre farm site contained both GM and non-GM maize, but hoped to identify the GM from weed growth under the crop.
''But it was very difficult to be clear,'' she said. ''I just had to cut down as much as I could. I regarded it as an urgent situation because the crop was about to flower.''
Under cross-examination, she said they hoped to reduce the chance of cross-pollination. They wore white suits to stop pollen contamination and because it was in line with tradition.
Despite the fact that only four protesters attacked the crop, they managed to destroy two acres. A number of campaigners carrying banners ringed the field's perimeter.
The jury heard that in a police interview, Charvet commented: ''I feel obliged to act to stop the consequences of these trials and protest vehemently against them.''
Prosecutor Hugh Williams said there was no chance that four people could have stopped cross-pollination. He claimed the main aim was publicity and that the defendants knew they risked cutting down non-GM plants.
The trial continues.
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