Palestine Action founder to challenge proscription at High Court
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.
Read More:
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.
On Friday a man was arrested and charged under the Terrorism Act in Glasgow for holding a sign reading 'Genocide in Palestine, time to take action'.
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'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Moment police break black driver's window and punch him in face for not having headlights on
This is the moment a black driver in Florida had his window broken and was punched in the face after police pulled him over for not having his headlights on in the daytime. The incident - shared by William McNeil Jr in a now-viral video - took place at 4.17pm on Feb 19 this year. After being pulled over by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the 22-year-old can be seen speaking to officers who tell him he was stopped for driving without headlights in 'inclement weather.' McNeil asks to speak to a supervisor before his window is broken and he is punched at least twice in the face before being dragged to the floor out of sight. The sheriff's office has launched an investigation. McNeil spent two days in jail after being charged with resisting an officer without violence and driving on a suspended license.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Highland GP could face probe over abusive rape survivor posts
A GP from the Highlands has been the subject of reports to the General Medical Council (GMC) about abusive online comments concerning his rapist son's victim, the BBC understands. Dr Andrew McFarlane's son Daniel was convicted of raping Ellie Wilson in 2022 and jailed. She has since become a campaigner for survivors of male sexual violence. Dr McFarlane has been posting comments on social media to allege that his son is the victim of a miscarriage of justice and has made dozens of deeply disparaging comments about Wilson. BBC Scotland News has contacted Dr McFarlane for comment. Ms Wilson secretly captured Daniel McFarlane admitting to his crimes by setting her phone to record in her was found guilty of two rape charges and sentenced to five years in prison in July attacks took place between December 2017 and February 2018 when McFarlane was a medical student at the University of the conviction Ms Wilson, who waived her anonymity, has campaigned on behalf of January 2023 Ms Wilson, who was a politics student and champion athlete at the university at the time, released audio on X of a conversation with McFarlane covertly captured the year after the the recording she asks him: "Do you not get how awful it makes me feel when you say 'I haven't raped you' when you have?"McFarlane replies: "Ellie, we have already established that I have. The people that I need to believe me, believe me. I will tell them the truth one day, but not today."When asked how he feels about what he has done, he says: "I feel good knowing I am not in prison."Ms Wilson told BBC Scotland she had released the clip because many people wondered what evidence she had to secure a rape the trial a lawyer was found to have abused his position after Ms Wilson said she was subjected to personal attacks in Faculty of Advocates complaints committee said Lorenzo Alonzi repeatedly crossed the line of what was acceptable and found that his behaviour amounted to unsatisfactory professional conduct on six of the 11 issues you are affected by any of the issues in this story, help and advice is available through BBC Action Line.
BreakingNews.ie
3 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (63) jailed for laneway sexual assault of teenage boy
A 63-year-old man has been jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a teenager in a Dublin laneway. Ronaldo Otto, aka Samantha Otto, of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last May of sexually assaulting the 18-year-old on October 26th, 2022. Advertisement Oisin Clarke BL, prosecuting, said the victim wants to remain anonymous but had no issue with the defendant being named. Reading his victim impact statement to the court, the injured party said he had just left secondary school and turned 18 at the time of the assault. 'I was forever changed after that', he said. 'I'm 21. I won't get to be 18 again… and time waits for no one. I'll never get that time back,' he added. He said he hoped he could 'get closure and move on with my life' and thanked gardaí for getting him through a 'gruelling' trial. Advertisement Garda Liam O'Meara told the court he was on duty at Rathmines Garda Station when the teenager made an allegation that he had been sexually assaulted. The injured party said he was halfway down a lane and was wearing a set of headphones, listening to music when two females passed by. One of the females stopped at the top of the lane and beckoned in his direction. He was not sure if he was being called because he had his headphones in. The injured party said Otto almost immediately 'cupped his penis' through his trousers. He asked Otto to back away. He moved away but Otto offered to give him oral sex and he declined. At this point the injured party took out his mobile phone and recorded some of the incident. Advertisement There was another attempt to touch him and he told Otto to go away, the court heard. The injured party said he was in shock. He called his father who was unable to attend, but his mother came to the garda station. CCTV Gardaí identified Otto from CCTV of the lane and a warrant was issued. Otto was arrested and detained in the usual fashion and was interviewed on two occasions. Otto said it was the injured party who carried out the assault and took a trial date. The court heard Otto has one previous for assault causing harm on April 27th, 2019 and received a suspended sentence on October 20th, 2020. Boiling water was thrown over the injured party who had rejected Otto's advances. The court heard Otto is a male transitioning into a female. Judge Codd asked if the transition was complete. Gda O'Meara told the judge the transition was 'not complete'. Advertisement Pieter LeVert BL, defending, told the court Otto accepted the verdict of the jury in full. He said his client is 63 and is originally from the Philippines and left school early to work. He said his client owned and operated a salon in the Philippines. Otto came to Ireland in 2011 to work in a salon of a girl from the Philippines. Counsel said difficulties with Otto's vocal cords caused his client to have no voice. Having stopped working as a result of that and suffering 'severe financial difficulties', Otto began 'working on the streets'. Mr LeVert said his client was a victim of a robbery and then attempted suicide. Documents A document from Ruhama, an NGO providing support to sex workers, which Otto first contacted in March 2014, was handed into court. Advertisement A document was also handed in about attendance at adult education services and a hairdressing course. Counsel said Otto is biologically male and has been transitioning 'for a number of years' having had a breast augmentation and using a hormonal patch three times a week. Otto has diabetes and there has been 'great caution because of that'. He said there were a number of letters from the National Gender Service who provide psychological services. Mr LeVert handed in two newspaper articles dated February 10th, 2025 and May 30th, 2025 written by journalist Conor Gallagher, saying there was still no formal model of how to deal with transgender prisoners and where they should be housed. Counsel said the article states these people are currently held in the E wing of Limerick Prison where they are typically held up to 23 hours a day in their cells. 'What weight has this evidence? It's a newspaper article?' remarked Judge Pauline Codd. Mr LeVert asked the court to take account of the issues around trans prisoners, that Otto was a foreign national with no family here and his client's acceptance of the jury's verdict. The judge asked what level of English Otto had and counsel said an interpreter was used for the trial however none was used for the sentencing hearing on Monday. Judge Codd noted Otto, who was 58 at the time of the offence, identified as female but is biologically male. The judge said that it created a difficulty in terms of sentencing as Otto has not yet received a gender recognition certificate. The judge noted the injured party believed the person was a woman and when Otto asked him for assistance and so the complainant approached the accused. She noted Otto had claimed to be the victim and the case was fully defended. Judge Codd said the attempt to blacken the injured party's character was unnecessary and egregious. The judge noted the victim gave a moving account of how the assault affected him - that he should be having a good time with his friends and 'feels like his life is being held up'. Judge Codd noted it was clear from his demeanour that the injured party found the court process distressing. A sexual assault of a young person, albeit on a lower scale as it occurred over the victim's clothing, can result in psychological harm, said the judge. The issue of deterrence arose, said the judge, noting there was a previous assault causing harm conviction for throwing boiling water over a person who had rejected Otto's advances. In mitigation, the judge noted Otto grew up under difficult circumstances and there was evidence in that regard from Ruhama. However she said these are cases where the victim feels 'rightly outraged by being violated' in this manner. The judge also noted there was no guilty plea to save the victim the trauma of giving evidence. Judge Codd said although there was no violence, the actions of the accused amounted to a 'gross violation of his bodily integrity'. The touching was aggravated by the 'lewd language' that was used and that the victim was a person who was much younger. The court heard Otto has not expressed remorse but accepted the verdict of the jury. The previous conviction for assault causing harm was not the same type of offence but it related to rejected advances, the judge noted. Judge Codd said Otto was now placed onto the Sexual Offenders' Register. She said the court has a letter from Ruhama, 'where they received personal support.' She said Otto was a person undergoing transition and that it is difficult 'where their gender identity does not align with their biological sex.' Judge Codd noted Otto was on a suspended sentence at the time of the offence and imposed a three-year jail term.
