GAY campaigners lit candles on the steps of Bolton Crown Court in support of seven local men convicted for indecency on a video.

Protesters from all over the country gathered in front of the court to speak out against the convictions and call for a change in the law.

They accused the Police and Crown Prosecution Service of wasting public money on a trial when police stations in Bolton face closure.

Organiser Ian Wilmott, chairman of the Greater Manchester Gay and Lesbian Police Initiative, said: "It is ridiculous for the police and the court to spend £500,000 on this case at a time when Bolton police stations face closure through lack of money." YouthSpeak co-ordinator Chris Morris - who was instrumental in forcing an expected change in British law after successfully complaining to Europe about the unequal age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual couples - spoke out against the prosecution of three of the men for having consenting sex with a 17-year-old.

The men's solicitor Janet Cragg told the crowd she had received nearly 300 letters of support and a petition was launched asking the judge not to jail the men when they are sentenced next month.

After the protest Mr Wilmott spoke out against the lack of official support for the campaign.

He said: "It is outrageous that none of Bolton's councillors or MPs have joined today's vigil or publicly spoken against the prosecution of these men for consenting sex in the privacy of their own homes."

The men face jail after being convicted for acts of gross indecency on two videos made in the town but argue the authorities would not have been interested if the film had been with men and women.

They want a change in the law which currently makes it illegal for more than two men to have sex in private.

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