Palace protester is peace veteran

Palace protest was latest in a long line of campaigns by Lindis Percy

The grandmother who climbed the gates of Buckingham Palace on Monday is a veteran peace protester.

Lindis Percy, 61, from Hull, East Yorkshire, has campaigned against nuclear weapons for more than 20 years.

Mrs Percy, who was arrested and bailed after her demonstration at the palace, has been detained more than 150 times since 1996.

She began campaigning when she learnt cruise missiles were to be deployed at the RAF base at Greenham Common.

Injunctions

The trained nurse and midwife was first arrested in 1990 when working for the Otley Peace Action Group at an RAF base at Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire.

LINDIS PERCY Born Leeds, West Yorkshire Trained as nurse and midwife Worked in NHS all her life Married with three children Began protesting in 1979 Joint co-ordinator of CAAB Arrested more than 150 times Imprisoned 12 times Banned from five US air bases

Since then, Mrs Percy has been an active member of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Air Bases (CAAB), which opposes the development of weapons of mass destruction and, in particular, the controversial American Missile Defence System.

She has campaigned with the CAAB at a number of establishments including Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall and has been frequently charged with trespass.

Permanent injunctions have been sought to prevent the married mother-of-three from entering five US air bases.

Jailed

During the conflict in Iraq, Mrs Percy was arrested after she breached security at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and spent two hours underneath a US B-52 bomber being prepared for deployment to the Gulf.

Mrs Percy is married with three children and four grandchildren

She was jailed for nine months in 1999 for trespassing on MoD land at Menwith Hill and also served nine days of a 14-day sentence in 1992 for climbing over a perimeter fence and trespassing at RAF Alconbury.

In April 2001, Mrs Percy was cleared of disorderly behaviour after being accused of forcing a US citizen to drive over the American flag during a protest.

Later that year, the peace protester won a High Court challenge to overturn a conviction for defacing the American flag at a US Airforce base.

In total, Mrs Percy has been imprisoned 12 times since she started campaigning in 1979.