Mr Shaw has been fined a total of £440 by a Cambridge court after he was arrested while trying to destroy a GM test crop. This was the only crop of GM potatoes being grown in the UK by chemicals giant BASF. The bench found Shaw, 43, had acted recklessly and he was ordered to pay £125 in fines, £100 in compensation, a victim surcharge of £15 and other costs of £200.

In court, the prosecution alleged that he knew he was doing something wrong when he started climbing the fence, to which Martin replied "I disagree. I think it is a fine thing to do to destroy GM crops."

The crop in question was later partially destroyed in a night-time raid, though it has been claimed by the company involved that around 70% of the crop was subsequently saved and harvested, which would make it a successful test according to government guidelines.

The trials were the first GM crops to enter British soil in nearly three years, after public opposition forced a U-turn in government and corporate plans for patented crops. Although presented as an R&D trial into the effectiveness of an anti-potato blight gene, they were widely considered to be a trial of public opinion.

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