Photographer Steve Morgan has walked free from an American court after being handed a non-custodial sentence for his part in a protest at a Californian airbase.

He told the court: "I do not believe there is such a thing as objective photojournalism. If your pictures aren't good enough - you're not close enough."

The freelancer was covering a Greenpeace protest against the 'Star Wars' missile program at Vandenberg Airbase for the environmental group and originally faced up to six years in prison for conspiracy to violate a safety zone around the test and conspiracy to violate a military officer's direct order.

He was due to be sentenced in January but along with five others had his case put off until now.

The sentence passed by the Los Angeles court, for trespass, was for one year's unsupervised probation.

Steve, who lives in Frome, Somerset, began his career on a weekly newspaper in Hull before moving on to the Yorkshire Post and then the Independent.

After the hearing he said: "Many thanks to you all that followed the case and the support that you gave."

Steve said in address to the court: "I am a professional freelance photographer and have been for over 20 years of my working life.

"During this time I have taken pictures of wars, famines, civil strife and environmental destruction.

"During my documentation of such powerful events I have also recorded the struggles of peoples and individuals for their own personal dignity and the triumph of hope and the human spirit over great odds.

"In a world view increasingly shaped by corporate advertising and government spin the actions of individuals striving to be heard above the clamour of big business and political self interest, I believe, deserves to be given a hearing."

He told the judges: "I do not believe there is such a thing as objective photojournalism. We all have our own unique view of the world and as such will attempt to describe and make sense of it in such terms.

"As a photojournalist my interpretation of events is shaped by my personal views and not by the persons or organizations who commission the assignments. I would shoot the same pictures whether I was assigned by the Washington Post, the London Times or indeed Greenpeace.

"As the Magnum photographer Robert Capa once famously remarked "if your pictures aren't good enough - you're not close enough" - which, your honour, had I chosen to ignore this particular piece of advice, I probably wouldn't have found myself standing here today in your courtroom."