A YORK man who lay in the path of a tank outside a London arms fair faces an appeal over his acquittal for obstructing the highway.

Tom Franklin, a Green party activist from Clifton, was among eight defendants found not guilty by a district judge at Stratford Magistrates' Court in London last week.

Mr Franklin along with seven others had been arrested at the Excel Centre, the site of the Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair, last September. They were charged with "obstructing a public highway" - for lying down in the path of a lorry taking a tank into the centre - but successfully argued they were preventing much more serious crimes like the sale of illegal weapons, or legal arms, being sold to regimes known for human rights abuses.

The district judge accepted that argument, saying he was impressed by the defendants' sincerity and had been convinced their actions were not impulsive or irrational.

Now the group could face a High Court appeal after prosecutors started appeal proceedings by lodging papers with the magistrates' court.

In a joint statement, Mr Franklin and the other defendants said they stood by their actions at the DSEI fair.

They added: "Our actions have continued to show where the interests of money and power truly lie. The state has invested a prolific amount of time and public money seeking to prosecute us. Many of us feel that perhaps if the state had chosen to focus their resources on those selling killing machines and torture weapons to human rights abusers then we would see some of the arms dealers in court, instead of those who are trying to prevent some of the vilest crimes including torture and war crimes."

Documents show the CPS is appealing on four grounds of law - including that the defendants were not really trying to prevent more serious crimes but were in fact aiming to disrupt the arms fair and draw attention to their own objections to the sale of arms.

They are also arguing that the force used by the eight protesters to stop the tank was not "reasonable" and there was no immediate or instant need to act as they did.

A CPS spokesman said: "The process of an appeal in this case is at a very early stage. It would be inappropriate to discuss grounds for an appeal until it has been concluded."

The process now means District Judge Angus Hamilton will set out the legal basis for his judgment, and once that is received the CPS decide whether to lodge the appeal in the High Court.

After the trial it was announced that Parliament is planning an inquiry into what happens at the arms fair.