Five protesters convicted of criminal damage face sentencing as terrorists

Five protesters convicted of criminal damage face sentencing as terrorists

Submitted by
Katherine Hearst
on
Mon, 07/27/2026 - 09:22

Judge Phillip Parry circulated an unprecedented ruling by a judge who recently sentenced four activists as terrorists

The defendants allegedly spray painted and splintered windows at a Barclays bank branch in Burnley over its shares in Elbit Systems in August 2024 (Supplied)

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Five Palestine Action protesters convicted of criminal damage for spray painting and splintering windows at a Barclays bank are facing potential terror sentences without the jury’s knowledge.

Five defendants – Brendon O’Hagan, 28, Amanda Kelly, 31, Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31, Mohammed Malik, 28, and Alma Yaniv, 70 – were found guilty in June 2026 of  causing £212,000 ($283,000) worth of damage to a Barclays branch in Burnley in August 2024.

At the time, the bank held shares with the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.

Following their convictions, presiding Judge Phillip Parry told defence lawyers that he would consider applying a “terrorist connection”, despite jurors not being told about a potential terror sentencing in the case.

When doing so, he circulated a ruling made by Justice Johnson, the presiding judge in a recent Palestine Action case in which four activists convicted of criminal damage were sentenced as terrorists despite being convicted by jurors of criminal charges. 

The CPS subsequently argued that the defendants should receive a terror sentencing, despite not mentioning the possibility during the trial.

“We were never aware that anything terror related was going to be added in, the prosecution never brought it up,” Malik told Middle East Eye.

“I was shocked that broken windows and red paint can be deemed as terrorism,” he said.

Malik said in a statement that: “The attempt to now sentence us as terrorists demonstrates the extremely dangerous precedent set by Judge Johnson, who sentenced four Palestine Action protesters as terrorists for destroying Israeli quadcopter drones.”

A terror sentence could impact on the custodial sentences – meaning the defendants would serve at least two-thirds of their sentences, and would need to rescind their political beliefs in order to obtain parole.

'The flood gates are opening'

The Barclays action took place prior to the proscription of Palestine Action and is not listed among the three incidents connected to Palestine Action which the government classified as terrorism, each allegedly involving over £1m in damage.

In June, four Palestine Action activists were sentenced as terrorists in connection with a raid on an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.

Justice Johnson attached a terrorism connection to their criminal damage offences on the basis that the defendants caused "serious property damage", with the intention of influencing the UK government and "intimidating a section of the public".

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Their sentencing marked the first time in British legal history that the designation had been applied to direct action protesters who were not convicted of terrorist offences or of causing intentional violence.

The defendants were handed lengthy custodial sentences and will be subject to 15 years of terrorist notification requirements on release.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori warned that Johnson’s ruling set a “dangerous precedent” and that the Barclays case is a sign that the “flood gates are opening”.

In October 2024, MEE reported that Barclays had sold all its 16,345 shares in Elbit Systems.

The sentencing hearing is set for 4 September.

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