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) Off 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. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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.
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