Palestine Action activists face terror sentencing over bank
Five Palestine Action activists convicted of causing more than £200,000 in damage to a Barclays bank branch in Burnley could be sentenced as terrorists after a judge said he intends to consider a terrorist connection. Prosecutors are urging that finding ahead of a September hearing, raising the stakes for direct-action bank protests.
Key Takeaways
- Five defendants were convicted of about £212,000 in damage to a Barclays branch in Burnley in August 2024.
- Judge Philip Parry intends to consider a post-conviction "terrorist connection" finding.
- The Crown Prosecution Service is arguing the five should be sentenced as terrorists.
- Sentencing is scheduled for 4 September; a similar Filton factory case set a recent precedent.
- The protest occurred before Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70, were found guilty of criminal damage after a direct-action protest at the St James’s Street branch in Burnley. According to The Guardian, they targeted the bank because it held shares in Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems.
The action took place on 5 August 2024. Defendants said it was meant to pressure Barclays to cut financial ties to Elbit. Damage was valued at roughly £212,000, including broken windows and red paint. The bank later reported selling all its Elbit shares.
Why does a terrorist connection matter for sentencing?
After June verdicts at Preston Crown Court, Judge Philip Parry told lawyers he intended to consider a "terrorist connection" to the offending. Neither the jury nor the defendants had been told of that possibility beforehand.
If applied, terror-linked sentencing can mean longer custody, loss of automatic early release, extended licence conditions, and years of police notification rules. In a related Filton case, activists faced lengthy jail terms and 15 years of terrorist notification requirements on release.
The CPS says the terror link emerged from trial admissions about Palestine Action affiliation and a wider campaign against Barclays. Defence lawyers argue the bank damage was not serious enough to be marked as terrorism and that the issue should have been raised earlier.
How does this case link to banks and Elbit Systems?
Barclays was singled out over shareholdings connected to Elbit Systems, a major Israeli arms manufacturer. Palestine Action has long used direct action against Elbit and firms linked to it. For readers following banking and risk stories, see more coverage in our Fintech & Crypto Alerts hub.
It was reported in October 2024 that Barclays had sold all its Elbit shares. The bank had said it held them only for client-driven transactions and was neither an investor nor shareholder in the arms company in the ordinary sense. The Burnley protest itself was not assessed by the home secretary as a terrorism incident at the time.
What precedent could reshape protest cases against banks?
Four other Palestine Action activists became the first property-damage defendants whose offending—during a raid on Elbit’s Filton factory near Bristol—was deemed post-conviction to have a terrorist connection by Mr Justice Johnson. Parry attached that judgment when seeking submissions in the Burnley case.
Critics including Liberty’s Akiko Hart and Labour MP John McDonnell warn that counter-terror powers are being stretched against political dissent. Green Party leader Zack Polanski said spraying red paint over Barclays’ ties to Elbit "is not terrorism." Climate activists who smashed Barclays windows in London in 2023 were not given a terrorist connection finding.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025—after the Burnley protest. The CPS and judiciary declined to comment. Sentencing is set for 4 September.