Five Palestine Action activists face being sentenced as terrorists for breaking windows and throwing red paint at a Barclays Bank branch in Burnley, Lancashire, after a judge signaled his intention to consider a terrorist connection to their offending. Brendon O'Hagan (28), Amanda Kelly (31), Humeera Atiqnisar (31), Mohammed Malik (28), and Alma Yaniv (70) were found guilty of causing £212,000 of damage during a direct action protest in August 2024. They targeted the Barclays branch because it held shares in the Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems. The Guardian

After the verdicts, Judge Philip Parry told prosecution and defence he intended to consider a terrorist connection to the offending, despite neither the jury nor the defendants having previously been informed of that possibility. Judge Parry attached a judgment from Mr Justice Johnson when asking lawyers for submissions on whether a terrorist connection applied in the Barclays case. The Guardian

That judgment stems from a separate case involving four other Palestine Action activists who were the first defendants convicted of property damage whose offending was deemed post-conviction to have a terrorist connection, relating to a raid on Elbit's Filton factory near Bristol. In the Filton case, the four received lengthy custodial sentences and will be subject to 15 years of terrorist notification requirements. The Guardian

The Crown Prosecution Service argued that the Barclays five should be sentenced as terrorists, even though prosecutors did not raise the possibility before or during the trial. The CPS argues the terrorist connection only came to light from admissions made by the defendants at trial, including their affiliation to Palestine Action and that the protest was part of a wider campaign against Barclays. The Guardian

The Burnley bank protest took place before Palestine Action was banned as a terrorist group. The protest was not assessed by the home secretary nor officials to be a terrorism incident at the time. Palestine Action was subsequently banned as a terrorist group effective July 4, 2025, after a legal challenge failed. The Guardian

The case has drawn sharp criticism from civil liberties advocates and politicians. Akiko Hart, director of Liberty, said the case highlighted "the deep flaws in the UK's counter-terror laws which capture activity most people would never consider terrorism." Labour MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said trying direct-action protesters under criminal law but then sentencing them under terrorist legislation "cannot be seen in any way as fair or just" and appears "specifically targeted to silence the voices of people speaking out against the genocide in Gaza." The Guardian

A critical point of comparison involves the treatment of similar offenses by other activist groups. Seven Extinction Rebellion protesters were given suspended sentences for causing more than £100,000 of damage by breaking windows at Barclays' London headquarters in 2023. Similar climate activist offending has not been deemed to have a terrorist connection. The Guardian

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said the Barclays case was an example of "the floodgates flowing" from Justice Johnson's earlier terrorist-connection ruling. The Guardian

The broader context here is the expanding perimeter of UK counter-terrorism sentencing. The application of terrorist connection findings to property damage offenses committed before the group's proscription represents a significant extension of the legal framework governing direct action protests. The disparity in prosecutorial approach between Palestine Action activists and climate protesters committing comparable criminal damage raises substantive questions about the consistency of terrorism designations. The post-conviction introduction of terrorist connection considerations, occurring only after a jury verdict is reached and without prior notice to defendants, introduces a structural shift in how terrorism enhancements are applied. The use of admissions made during trial to establish a terrorist connection retroactively places defendants in a posture where their trial testimony becomes the evidentiary basis for a sentencing enhancement they could not have anticipated. The 15-year terrorist notification requirement attached to the Filton sentences provides a concrete measure of the long-term consequences flowing from these designations. The CPS argument that affiliation with Palestine Action and participation in a broader campaign suffices to establish a terrorist connection, combined with the group's subsequent proscription, suggests that organizational membership is being weighed as a determining factor in sentencing classifications for actions that were not originally treated as terrorism incidents.