Simon Speakman Cordall
Al-Jazeera / August 21, 2026
The five activists who vandalised a branch of Barclays bank say they are ‘extremely relieved’.
Preston, United Kingdom – Five Palestine Action activists in the United Kingdom will not be sentenced under terrorism laws, a judge has ruled.
Brendon O’Hagan (28), Amanda Kelly (31), Hmeera Atiqnisar (31), Mohammed Malik (28), and Alma Yaniv (70), were convicted in June of causing damage worth 212,000 pounds ($290,000) to a branch of Barclays bank in the town of Burnley in Lancashire in August 2024.
The activists were protesting against the bank’s shareholdings in the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.
On Friday at Preston Crown Court, as Judge Robert Altham announced his ruling, scores of their supporters gathered outside erupted into cheers and pro-Palestine chants.
Malik’s mother, Dove Malik, told Al-Jazeera, “It’s a victory for us, it’s a victory for Palestine, it’s a victory for protesting … We are on the right side of history.”
In a joint statement, the activists said they were “extremely relieved that the court has seen sense and decided not to sentence us as terrorists”.
“This should never have been an option,” they said. “We were on trial for charges of criminal damage, for damaging some windows and spraying red paint on a Barclays branch. At no point during the trial were we, or the jury, informed that, if convicted, we could face being sentenced as terrorists.”
The five are due to be sentenced on September 4.
At the time of their verdicts, Palestine Action had not been proscribed as a terrorist group. Neither the defendants nor the jury were aware that terrorism charges might be involved.
However, following the verdicts, trial judge Philip Parry notified the defendants’ legal team that he intended to consider whether the offence carried a “terrorist connection”.
Parry made a similar move after circulating a ruling from a case in June, during which four Palestine Action activists convicted of criminal damage at Elbit Systems’ Filton site near Bristol were sentenced as terrorists nearly two years after their protest at Woolwich Crown Court in London.
Leading criminal lawyer Raj Chada, of the firm Hodge Jones & Allen, which has defended a number of Palestine Action activists, said “terrorist connection” laws date back years, but only appear to have been applied recently and solely in Palestine Action cases.
“Certainly, in our experience, using the law like this is very, very unusual and appears to be being used to target Palestine Action activists whose offence predates the banning of the group,” he said.
“To the best of our knowledge, the only time this law was used in relation to direct action protest groups was against those convicted at Filton,” said Chada, outlining laws used by prosecutors to target the offence rather than the individual or group that had carried it out.
According to the rights group Defend our Juries, more than 3,500 people – many over the age of 60 – have been arrested for expressing support for Palestine Action after it was proscribed by politicians in July 2025, placing it on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Many of these arrests have arisen through repeated mass sit-ins in central London’s Parliament Square, where protesters held signs reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Rights groups have long decried the ban on Palestine Action as an illiberal overreach by the government, calling on the ruling Labour Party to lift it.
Responding to Friday’s ruling, Kerry Moscogiuri, head of Amnesty International UK said, “We now need to see the proscription against Palestine Action lifted and an end to the misuse of sweeping counter terror powers against direct action protestors. The government should begin the process of reversing the years of attacks on our right to protest, one of the most effective tools we have to hold our leaders to account.”
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UK judge decides against sentencing Palestine Action activists for terrorism
Brad Reed
Common Dreams / August 21, 2026
“It’s a victory for us, it’s a victory for Palestine, it’s a victory for protesting,” said the mother of a defendant.
Five Palestine Action activists who were convicted in June of vandalizing a Barclays bank in the UK will not be sentenced as terrorists.
As reported by Al-Jazeera on Friday, Judge Robert Altham determined that the five defendants — Brendon O’Hagan (28); Amanda Kelly (31); Hmeera Atiqnisar (31); Mohammed Malik (28); and Alma Yaniv (70) — did not commit crimes that rose to the level of terrorism.
Instead, the judge said, they will be sentenced in September for criminal damage to the bank, which will carry significantly shorter prison sentences compared to a terrorism sentencing.
According to The Guardian, attorneys representing the defendants argued that their clients’ Palestine Action membership should not influence a decision to sentence them on terrorism because the group wasn’t proscribed as a terrorist organization until long after the vandalism took place.
The five activists were found guilty two months ago of causing damage exceeding £200,000 to the Barclays bank in Burnley, Lancashire in August 2024. Palestine Action activists across the UK targeted Barclays branches due to its investments in Elbit Systems, and Israeli defense technology firm.
The activists issued a joint statement after the ruling saying they were “extremely relieved” by the outcome, while emphasizing that a terrorism sentence should never have been under consideration.
“This should never have been an option,” they said. “We were on trial for charges of criminal damage, for damaging some windows and spraying red paint on a Barclays branch. At no point during the trial were we, or the jury, informed that, if convicted, we could face being sentenced as terrorists.”
Supporters of the activists erupted in cheers outside the court after hearing the news. Dove Malik, mother of defendant Mohammed Malik, expressed relief in an interview with Al Jazeera.
“It’s a victory for us,” said Malik, “it’s a victory for Palestine, it’s a victory for protesting.”
Brad Reed is a contributor at Common Dreams
