High Court to hear bid to challenge Palestine Action ban
On July 4, Ms Ammori failed in a High Court bid to temporarily block the ban coming into effect, with the Court of Appeal dismissing a challenge to that decision less than two hours before the proscription came into force on July 5.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, the direct action group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Government is opposing the bid for the legal challenge to be allowed to proceed, with the hearing before Mr Justice Chamberlain due to begin at 10.30am on Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Ms Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes, which police said caused an estimated £7 million of damage, was 'disgraceful'.
Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident, and are due to face trial in early 2027.
Since the ban came into force, dozens of people have been arrested at protests in cities including London, Manchester and Cardiff, including an 83-year-old reverend.
At the hearing earlier this month, Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, said the proscription was an 'ill-considered, discriminatory and authoritarian abuse of statutory power'.
He also said that the Home Office 'has still not sufficiently articulated or evidenced a national security reason that proscription should be brought into effect now'.
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh KC, also representing Ms Ammori, told the court that the harm caused by the ban would be 'far-reaching' and could cause 'irreparable harm to large numbers of members of the public', including causing some to 'self-censor'.
Ben Watson KC, for the Home Office, said Palestine Action could challenge the Home Secretary's decision at the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), a specialist tribunal, rather than at the High Court.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said that an assessment on whether to ban the group had been made as early as March, and 'preceded' the incident at RAF Brize Norton.
Dismissing the bid for a temporary block, the judge said that the 'harm which would ensue' if a block was not ordered was 'insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force'.
He added that some of the 'consequences feared by the claimant' were 'overstated'.
At a late-night Court of Appeal hearing, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Edis threw out a bid to challenge the High Court's decision, finding that there was 'no real prospect of a successful appeal'.
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The Sun
14 hours ago
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Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Telegraph
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Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Pub chef who sexually assaulted and murdered artist as she walked dog gets six more years in jail
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One of those was Van-Pooss' guilty plea, which he submitted in December 2024, over a year after Ms Knights' death in August 2023. This followed several reports to determine the 21-year-old's mental status due to his presenting psychotic symptoms. It was deemed he did not have psychosis, and it was suggested he had faked such symptoms. Mr Polnay said: 'It took some considerable time for the plea to be entered. Reports were necessary for this case. 'I entirely accept the offender does have a mental disorder, but he inevitably made the process longer and more complicated. 'He is someone who has malingered and continued to present false symptoms.' Stephen Moses KC, for Van-Pooss, said the targeting was 'a matter of moments rather than pre-meditated'. He added: 'Any findings of fact that there was malingering are explained by the personality disorder, but are not, in our case, perverting the course of justice. 'Matters were consistent with a personality disorder rather than simply framing mental illness.' He also put forward that a previous defence taken by Van Pooss - that Ms Knights made sexual advances towards him - was never advanced, so should not alter the level of credit given. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal judges decided a mistake had been made in the original sentencing. Van-Pooss also pleaded guilty to upskirting another woman at the pub where he worked the day before he killed Ms Knights. After she reported this, Van-Pooss was dismissed on August 22, 2023, and he left, carrying a backpack with a chef's knife inside. He then built a 'den' by the railway lines near Minnis Bay, Lord Justice Edis said in his judgment. Ms Knights was believed to have been walking a white and brown spaniel called Zebulon when she ran into Van-Pooss the following day. Van-Pooss acted in a 'simple' and 'calculated' way, the judge added, as he beat her and stomped on her head, causing fractures and brain damage. Ms Knights was found concealed in a dyke, having been pushed into the water while she was still alive. Van-Pooss was arrested for the upskirting offence on the evening of the killing, and was later charged with murder. Lord Justice Edis said the killing of a lone woman created 'widespread concern in the local community' and that Van-Pooss received an unduly lenient sentence. He added: 'The first thing we wish to say is that we commend the experienced judge for his approach to this case. 'The judge, in dealing with a horrifying and dreadful case of this kind, has to firmly try and succeed in maintaining an objective approach. 'The judge's job is to apply the law it the facts of the case and to be fair to the person who is to be sentenced. That is not easy in any case like this. 'We believe in making this decision, the judge did fall into error because the aggravating factors did outweigh the mitigating factors. 'That is enforced by what we have to say about the defendant's conduct in mimicking psychosis.' They said a starting term of 33 years should have been given, with only two years deducted for the late guilty plea. Ms Knight's son Elliot Knights-Sloane and her younger sister Annie Watson spoke to KentOnline outside court today. Mr Knights-Sloane said: 'There were things that we felt were glossed over and ignored that were hugely significant in the first hearing, and have now been brought up and actually addressed. 'The principle of that is what matters more than anything else.' His aunt added: 'The three judges recognised that the perpetrator had strung this all along and malingered all the way through and fed the police the story. 'There's a sense of relief now, because every time you come (to court), it just throws you straight back to the horror of it. 'This means now we can get on and we can remember Claire as she should be remembered, and that's what's important.' Mr Knights-Sloane continued: 'We want her death to mean something, and we want something positive to come out of her death. 'If we can do anything towards stopping violence against women, that would be a positive thing.' At Canterbury Crown Court, Ms Knights' friends and family heard harrowing details of how she was ambushed as she strolled with her Springer spaniel in Minnis Bay, Birchington, on August 23, 2023. Van-Pooss subjected her to a vicious sexual assault and beating before dumping her unconscious, but still alive, in a nearby water-filled dyke. Solicitor General Lucy Rigby said: 'Lawrence Van-Pooss's attack on Claire Knights was horrific. He assaulted and brutally murdered her, in a totally random attack. 'I welcome the court's decision to increase Van-Pooss's sentence and I would like to express my deepest sympathies to Claire's family and loved ones.'
