Priest: I’d rather go to jail than pay court fine Protesting churchman refuses to cough up for criminal damage
BIRMINGHAM priest Martin Newell – facing his seventh prison stretch for protesting against Britain’s military establishments – is unrepentant.
In his quest for world peace and disarmament, the 50-year-old from Sparkhill has certainly left his mark on this country’s defence centres.
His longest jail sentence so far – six months – was imposed for entering RAF Wittering, in Cambridgeshire, and hammering on a nuclear warhead convoy vehicle, causing £30,000 worth of damage.
He has been a thorn in the Ministry of Defence’s side, cutting through fencing at their establishments and praying.
It has not appeared all that difficult. At one sensitive site, Newell claims he had to wake slumbering guards and inform them of his presence.
This week, the priest was again in the dock, this time for non-payment of a £550 fine imposed after he daubed red paint at the entrance of a 2009 London arms fair.
He has 28 days to pay up – but he won’t.
“I have spent time in prison before and I will do the same again if necessary,” he told the Post.
“I have had this fine for eight years and I am not prepared to pay it now. I believe the arms trade promotes war and conflict and I cannot be in support of that.
“I will not pay, it is a matter of conscience.”
Custody is a near inevitability. The next “stretch” will add to a criminal CV that includes stints at HMPs Bedford, Belmarsh, Pentonville, Brixton and Wandsworth.
“Prison is not a holiday camp,” he shrugged. “I’m not a fan of Jeffrey Archer, but he’s right when he likened it to hanging around at a bus stop in the dark in a dangerous place.
“You have to be alert, you have to be on your toes.
“A couple tried to intimidate me but the prisoners are generally supportive. They can tell I’m not the normal type of prisoner. One even said ‘If you have any trouble, let me know’.
“I shared one cell with a man who was suicidal. They knew I was a priest – that’s why they put me in with him. I was writing letters for him to his wife.
“And there was a homeless man. He was in a very dark place when I went in, but soon he was feeling better.
“He was wearing a rosary – a lot of prisoners wear rosaries – with the crucifix upside down. By the end, he was wearing it the right way round.
“I am not looking forward to prison,” Newell admitted. “I am aware they have become substantially worse. The new drugs, such as Spice, mean more violence.
“And now there’s a TV in every cell – I’d rather not have my head filled with that rubbish.”
Newell, who moved from London to Sparkhill four years ago, is a member of strict religious order The Passionate Community.
Spawned in Italy in the 18th century, the group has only 30 followers in the UK, and only two in the West Midlands – him and his housemate Father John Kearns.
Abandoning the trappings of modern society, they share their modest home with destitute refugees. He has taken his message of Bible-based equality to Jerusalem and Peru, and believes the world is, at last, listening.
“The number of people dying in this world through violent conflict is lower than it has ever been,” he said. “War used to be glorified, I don’t think it is now.
“I think the work of the peace movement has had a positive effect. There has been real progress.”
His mother, meanwhile, is standing solidly behind her son. The pensioner, who has asked not to be named, likened the Catholic cleric’s demonstrations to “cutting the railway tracks to Auschwitz”.
Newell says his aims and protests can be distilled into one desire: “I want the people of this world to look after each other,” he insisted. And he is, he says, prepared to be banged up for that belief.
I have spent time in prison before and I will do the same again if necessary Rev Fr Martin Newell