Charges for showing support for proscribed group Palestine Action

Sixty-four people have been formally notified of charges and are due to appear at court in October for showing support for the proscribed group Palestine Action.

This follows confirmation on Friday, 15 August, that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised charges against 60 individuals for an offence under section 13 of the Terrorism Act, 2000, with another four added to that total since.

Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command have been working to notify all those affected, and those people have been sent a postal charge requisition (PCR) notifying them of the charge details and when they are due to appear at court.

Officers continue to pass case files to the CPS, with a further update on these expected towards the end of this week.

Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “The notion that by coming out and showing support towards a proscribed terrorist group will overwhelm us is completely misguided. The reality for those who have carried out this action is that they are now facing serious charges under the Terrorism Act. If convicted of such an offence, it can have a severe impact on your life or career, potentially restricting your ability to travel overseas or work in certain professions.

“My message to anyone thinking about carrying out similar action in the coming weeks is to reconsider. Thousands continue to attend protests where they freely express their views in support of Palestine, without breaking counter terrorism laws. But where we do see offences, people will very likely be arrested and will certainly be swiftly investigated, working closely with the CPS to bring about prosecutions.”

All those charged were initially arrested in central London on either Saturday, 5 July or Saturday, 12 July. In total, 67 people have now been charged in relation to investigations led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. Officers continue to work closely with colleagues from the CPS to progress other cases, with further prosecutions expected to be confirmed in the coming days and weeks.

The consequences for those charged with offences under section 13 of the Terrorism Act (TACT) include:

• A maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment.
• The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) will have a record of a person’s TACT conviction, and this will be seen by employers who use DBS to carry out checks on staff or new applicants. The existence of a TACT conviction may be seen by employers as grounds for a refusal to employ a person or to dismiss them.
• Universities also carry out DBS checks, and may refuse entry to courses to those with terrorism convictions.
• Any application to visit another country usually requires a declaration of criminal convictions. A TACT conviction will be a potential bar to entry to countries including the US, Australia, Japan, and from 2026 when the ETIAS system is introduced, countries of the European Union.
• If a person is a member of a professional body, they may face disciplinary proceedings and potentially removal from the profession.

Note to media:

A full list of those who have been notified of charges via PCR are below. All 64 people have been charged with an offence contrary to section 13 of the Terrorism Act, 2000.

Individuals [IV] through to [XXVI] are charged in relation to alleged actions on Saturday, 5 July and they are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 October.

Individuals [XXVII] through to [LXVII] are charged in relation to alleged actions on Saturday 12 July. They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 13 October, 14 October or 27 October.

[IV] Pauline Smith (13.11.1950) of Ipswich

[V] David Kilroy (20.08.1959) of Plymouth

[VI] David Nixon (24.06.1986) of Barnsley

[VII] Deborah Wilde (21.08.1954) of Wood Green, North London

[VIII] Gwen Harrison (23.07.1977) of Westmorland and Furness

[IX] Richard John Hering (28.03.1961) of Hackney, East London

[X] Ana Heyatawin (15.04.1963) of Wells, Somerset

[XI] Angela Zelter (05.06.1951) of Powys

[XII] Rafela Fitzhugh (21.04.1969) of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London

[XIII] Robert Lee (27.05.1964) of Devizes, Wiltshire

[XIV] Marjorie Mansfield (19.08.1956) of Chichester, Sussex

[XV] Ruth Jarman (05.05.1963) of Hook, Hampshire

[XVI] Susan Hampton (09.07.1965) Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

[XVII] Susan Parfitt (06.03.1942) of Bristol

[XVIII] Anthony Harvey (14.08.1966) of Argyll and Bute

[XIX] Gabriel Carlyle (31.05.1974) of St Leonards-On-Sea, East Sussex

[XX] Anne Richards (14.12.1957) of Greenwich, South East London

[XXI] Heather Brunskell-Evans (14.04.1950) of Albany, North Northamptonshire

[XXII] Dawn Manners (27.02.1964) of Hackney, East London

[XXIII] Isobel Arnold (28.03.1995) of no known address

[XXIV] Richard Whitmore-Jones (02.08.1951) of Chichester, West Sussex

[XXV] Melanie Griffith (10.04.1963) of Southwark, South East London

[XXVI] Aqua Wilkes (17.06.1994) of no fixed abode

[XXVII] Christine Welch (10.06.1953) of Broseley, Shropshire

[XXVIII] Ruth Cook (02.03.1952) of Frome, Somerset

[XXIX] Peter Morgan (30.05.1948) of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham

[XXX] Carolin Blaske (06.12.1974) of Hexham, Northumberland

[XXXI] Lucy Porter (14.11.1974) of Malvern, Worcestershire

[XXXII] Alan Carter (16.04.1947) of Brent, North West London

[XXXIII] Lucy Boyle (09.03.1993) of Bristol

[XXXIV] Oliver Gould (04.11.1989) of Nottingham

[XXXV] Bernard Kelly (20.04.1964) of Wandsworth, South West London

[XXXVI] Christopher Ford (28.02.1977) of Cambridge

[XXXVII] David Owen (22.09.1953) of Hackney, East London

[XXXVIII] Katie Thackray (19.04.1985) of Petersfield, Hampshire

[XXXIX] Michael Adams (26.06.1955) of Buckinghamshire

[XL] Paul Sheeky (13.06.1975) of Crewe

[XLI] Richard Warren (17.05.1958) of Milborne Port, Somerset

[XLII] Steven Fox (05.02.1966) of Hackney, East London

[XLIII] Opheilia Camp (24.05.1971) of Powys

[XLIV] Caroline Finkel (12.04.1952) of Chiswick, West London

[XLV] Georgia Solomon (02.11.1999) of Leeds

[XLVI] Alexandra Gilchrist (24.04.1951) of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

[XLVII] Kay Wagland (11.12.1958) Arundel, West Sussex

[XLVIII] Perdita Heller (27.02.1947) of Saltash, Cornwall

[XLIX] Marianne Beale (15.12.1959) of Saltash, Cornwall

[L] Dirk Campbell (30.12.1950) of Lewes, East Sussex

[LI] Susan Spencer-Longhurst (14.08.1952) of Oxford

[LII] Brian Barker (25.06.1954) of Benfleet, Essex

[LIII] Judith Bruce (31.03.1939) of Swansea

[LIV] Graham Bash (02.07.1949) of Lewisham, South East London

[LV] Andrea Huwes (18.04.1955) of Wantage, Oxfordshire

[LVI] Stephanie Golder (25.06.1987) of Tower Hamlets, East London

[LVII] Susan Roberts (11.08.1959) of St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex

[LVIII] Robert Price (28.08.1963) of Warwick

[LIX] Tobias Brown (26.07.1974) of Northleach, Gloucestershire

[LX] Arain Hawker (20.07.1971) of Langport, Somerset

[LXI] Carol Ann Wood (03.01.1969) of Swansea

[LXII] Helen Palmer (10.11.1954) of Wokingham

[LXIII] Kathryn McGee (13.08.1986) of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

[LXIV] Miriam Cranch (21.02.2004) of Guildford, Surrey

[LXV] Rajan Naidu (28.11.1950) of Birmingham

[LXVI] Harvey Thory (22.03.1962) of no known address

[LXVII] Violet Powell (26.10.2000) of Burley, Leeds

Three others were previously charged with an offence contrary to s.13 TACT, 2000 relating to alleged actions on 5 July and they are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 September:

[I] Jeremy Shippam (21.08.53) of West Sussex

[II] Judit Murray (24.06.54) of Surrey

[III] Fiona Maclean (23.09.71) of Hackney, East London