Soldier addresses anti-war protest

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Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, 27, from Norwich, is facing a court martial for refusing to return to fight in the war-ravaged country.

He has now flouted military orders to become one of the first serving soldiers to attend an anti-war demonstration since Afghanistan was invaded in 2001.

L/Cpl Glenton, from the Royal Logistics Corps, was cheered on by a crowd of more than 5,000 Stop The War Coalition protesters packed into London's Trafalgar Square.

Married L/Cpl Glenton told the crowd: "I'm here today to make a stand beside you because I believe great wrongs have been perpetrated in Afghanistan. I cannot, in good conscience, be part of them. I'm bound by law and moral duty to try and stop them.

"I'm a soldier and I belong to the profession of arms. I expected to go to war but I also expected that the need to defend this country's interests would be legal and justifiable. I don't think this is too much to ask. It's now apparent that the conflict is neither of these and that's why I must make this stand."

L/Cpl Glenton, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, faces a court martial in November for alleged desertion after going absent without leave in 2007. He joined the Army in 2004. If convicted, he faces two years in prison.

The Ministry of Defence made no comment on L/Cpl Glenton's stand. A spokeswoman said: "The Armed Forces does not attempt to regulate its personnel's behaviour unless it has a detrimental affect on their role or position. The situation involving Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is subject to legal proceedings and so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

Prior to addressing the crowd, the soldier led former colleagues, military families and protesters as the march snaked through the capital.

The Met Police said the protest passed off peacefully with no arrests.