in 1968, british workmen entered the claimed territorial waters of the principality of sealand to fix a buoy near the platform. michael bates (son of patty roy bates) tried to scare the workmen off by firing warning shots from the platform. as bates was a british subject at the time, he was called to court on firearm charges after the incident. however, the court said that the platform was outside of british waters and the case could not continue.