On 31 October at Preston Crown Court the Barclays 5 pro-Palestine activists were sentenced for criminal damage on Barclays bank in Burnley in August 2024. On 21 August the same court had determined that their sentencing would not be done on the basis that there is a ‘terrorism connection’.
Judge Robert Altham said that because they had expressed remorse he would not send them to prison, even though they retained their political views. Hmeera Atiqnisar was given a two-year sentence suspended for 20 months. Brendan O’Hagan, Amanda Kelly and Mohammed Malik each received 20 months suspended for 20 months. Alma Yaniv will be sentenced in December on similar terms.
FRFI joined several hundred people from across the northwest gathered outside to show their solidarity, with banners, flags, chanting, music, dancing, poetry and singing. There was a 30-metre-long banner of colourful crocheted squares, stitched together by supporters from Lancaster, each square representing 10 murdered Palestinian children.
Peter Holden
