Preston Crown Court is expected to decide on Friday whether a “terrorist connection” can be considered when five Palestine Action activists are sentenced for criminal damage. The five are scheduled to be sentenced on September 4.
Brendon O’Hagan, Amanda Kelly, Hmeera Atiqnisar, Mohammed Malik and Alma Yaniv were convicted over £212,000 ($290,000) in damage during a protest at a Barclays branch in Burnley, Lancashire, in August 2024.
What the activists were convicted of
The defendants were found responsible for damage during direct action targeting Barclays over its shareholdings in Israeli defence company Elbit Systems. The group includes O’Hagan, 28, Kelly, 31, Atiqnisar, 31, Malik, 28, and Yaniv, 70.
The case concerns the possible use of terrorism-linked sentencing provisions alongside criminal-damage convictions. The activists were not charged with terrorism, and the jury and defendants were not told during the trial that terrorism sentencing might later be considered.
Why the issue arose after the trial
Trial judge Philip Parry notified the defence after the verdicts that he intended to consider whether the offence had a “terrorist connection”. The move followed a ruling from a June case in which four Palestine Action activists convicted over criminal damage at Elbit Systems’ Filton site near Bristol were sentenced as terrorists at Woolwich Crown Court in London, nearly two years after their protest.
Criminal lawyer Raj Chada, whose firm has defended Palestine Action activists, said the laws had existed for years but appeared recently to have been used only in Palestine Action cases. He described applying them in this way as highly unusual and said the Burnley offence predated Palestine Action’s proscription as a terrorist group.
Questions about the sentencing decision
Robert Altham is to decide whether a “terrorist connection” should be added to the criminal-damage convictions, according to the source material. Supporters have questioned his involvement, citing a Court of Appeal finding that sentences he imposed on environmental protesters in September 2018 were “manifestly excessive”. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori called his involvement “shocking”.
Defend our Juries said supporters would gather outside Preston Crown Court on Friday in solidarity with the five. The group also said more than 3,500 people had been arrested for expressing support for Palestine Action after lawmakers proscribed the group in July 2025, including people arrested during sit-ins in London’s Parliament Square.
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