Judge Spares 5 Palestine Action Activists Terror Sentencing Over £200,000 Barclays Attack
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 21
Judge Spares 5 Palestine Action Activists Terror Sentencing Over £200,000 Barclays Attack
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 21
Summary
Five Palestine Action defendants convicted over a 2024 attack on a Barclays branch in Burnley will be sentenced only for criminal damage on Sept. 4, after a judge rejected a terrorism link.
Judge Robert Altham said the £212,805 damage was significant but did not meet the high threshold of “serious damage” under Section 69, noting Barclays was not a sensitive target like an arms factory.
The ruling means the activists avoid longer jail terms, loss of automatic early release and extended licence conditions with police monitoring that would have followed terrorist sentencing.
The group said it targeted Barclays at 02:00 on Aug. 5, 2024, to pressure the bank over links to Elbit Systems; Palestine Action was not yet a proscribed terrorist organisation at the time.
The decision contrasts with a May ruling that activists who caused £1.2 million of damage at an Elbit factory near Bristol should be sentenced as terrorists, underscoring how target and scale shape UK sentencing.
How might the looming Supreme Court decision on Palestine Action permanently redefine the legal boundary between disruptive protest and domestic terrorism?
Why did courts consider terrorism charges for vandalism committed a full year before the protest group was officially banned?
If £200,000 in damages to a major bank falls short, what exactly defines a sensitive target under UK terrorism laws?