Despite this intervention, the court did not accept the AG's argument that taking into account an honestly held belief by protesters that war crimes had taken place assisted by EDO, was wrong. The court found that if there was an imminent war crime that the protesters believed on reasonable grounds, was about to take place, in which EDO were complicit, then preventative direct action could lawfully be taken against the company without waiting for the authorities of the state to intervene. This ruling effectively allowed proportionate direct action against companies by protesters, if the threat of the crime was imminent and specific.