A court in the United Kingdom has refused to sentence five activists from the Palestine Action group as terrorists. The decision was made by Judge Philip Parry. The activists had been found guilty of attacking a Barclays bank branch in Burnley.
The group, dubbed the Barclays five, consists of Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70. In August 2024, they broke windows and threw red paint at a bank branch in Lancashire, causing over £200,000 in damage. They were found guilty in June.
The group members said they carried out the action to protest Barclays' holding of shares in the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems. They said they did not realize their cases could be considered terrorism until after they were found guilty. The jury that found them guilty was also unaware that such a consideration was possible.
After the five activists were found guilty in June, Judge Philip Parry told the prosecution and defense that he intended to consider a “terrorist connection” to the offending. It is understood this was due to new information coming to light during the trial.
In October 2024, it was reported that Barclays had sold all its Elbit shares. The bank had previously said it held them only in relation to client-driven transactions, being neither an investor nor shareholder in the arms company.
More details regarding this case will be published later.