LYNDSAY Burtonshaw joined hundreds of people in a march through Brighton last night to protest about the court verdict against her and 14 others.

She and the 14 were found guilty of a terrorism offence after locking themselves around a deportation plane.

Last night's demonstration, organised by Devil’s Dyke Network and Brighton Against Borders, started at the Clock Tower and went along North Street and London Road.

The Argus: Lynsay BurtonshawLynsay Burtonshaw

Ms Burtonshaw, 28, said: “We are shocked about the verdict and that the court charged us with anti-terror laws. One of those deported is a lesbian whose ex-husband has said he will kill her once she returns to Nigeria.

"The real crime is the Government’s cowardly, inhumane and barely legal deportation flights and unprecedented use of terror laws to crackdown on peaceful protest.

Savannah Sevenzo, 25, from Brighton, said: "We are protesting the conviction of the Stansted 15 for their actions. They were only stopping serious harm and they shouldn't have been
prosecuted."

Ashley O’Sullivan, 35, from Brighton, said: “I think it’s outrageous that they have done this and the verdict is really harsh and unacceptable.

“I am here to show my solidarity because they didn’t do any harm and they were only trying to protect those who are at risk of serious harm.”

The Argus:

Sally Griffin, 72, also from Brighton, said:"The Stansted 15 are on the right side of history. A century ago, the suffragettes chained themselves to railings.

"They were arrested, dragged away, vilified, and tortured in prison, and described as a threat to society.

Now our government is putting up statues to them and eulogising them, because no-one would dare suggest today that women do not deserve the vote.

"One day it will be seen as equally outrageous to criminalise and abuse refugees, asylum seekers and migrants."

Stansted 15 has issued a statement: "We call on the UK Government to end its hostile environment policies, including an end of the shameful practice of deportation charter flights.

"We also call for the Stansted 15 to be spared from prison. They did not aim to inconvenience people, and this arduous trial has had such a profound impact on the defendants' lives that they are unlikely to take such action again."

A Home Office spokesman said: “We only return those with no legal right to remain in the UK, including foreign national offenders and failed asylum seekers.

“We expect people to leave the country voluntarily but, where they do not, the Home Office will seek to enforce their departure.”

Read more: Lyndsay Burtonshaw guilty of terror offence after Stansted protest