Pomeroy man chained himself to gate to make ‘peaceful protest’

A MAN who chained himself to the gates of premises belonging to Candian goldmine company, Dalradian, told a court he was making a ‘peaceful protest’.

Paul Morrison (51) of Main Street, Pomeroy was contesting the charge of aggravated trespass by obstruction on the afternoon of Saturday March 13, 2021.

Omagh Magistrates Court was told by a security guard working at the Camcosy Road premises, which is located near Rouskey, that Morrison and another man drove up to the site.

After a few minutes, the defendant proceeded to wrap a chain around his arms and padlock himself around the entrance to the gate.

The guard said it was the policy of his security company, Mercury, not to communicate with anyone who approached the gates.

He said that following the padlocking, the other man in the car got out and began to photograph Paul Morrison chained to the gates.

The guard said that he felt ‘angry and intimidated’ by the incident.

He also told the court that he was unable to leave the premises for a number of hours during the ‘protest’.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Fintan McAleer, the guard accepted that the defendant would not have known that he was in a security hut. In his evidence, Morrison said that the sole purpose of going to the site was to stage ‘a peaceful protest’.

Imposing a conditional discharge, District Judge Wray, said that Morrison had made his point in ‘dramatic fashion’, but found him guilty of the offence, adding that he had ‘deliberately’ chained himself to the gate.

The judge acknowledged the ‘frustration’ that led to the defendant’s actions, but told him that this was not the way to deal with these issues. Taking into account a previous relevant offence in 2020, the judge said he was of the view to impose a conditional discharge for a period of two years. The defendant was also ordered to pay £600 costs and has been made the subject of a two-year restraining order, banning him from going within 50 metres of the Dalradian premises on Camcosy Road.