Preston Crown Court · R v O’Hagan & others Sentencing: September 2026

Red paint on a
bank window.
Terrorism.

Five people are facing terrorist sentences for cracking windows and spraying paint at a high-street bank. They were never charged with terrorism. No jury was ever asked whether it was terrorism. The question was raised only after the trial had already ended.

Canary Wharf · April 2023
£500,000
Extinction Rebellion activists smash windows at Barclays’ London headquarters over fossil fuel finance.
No terrorism. No jail.
Burnley · August 2024
£212,805
Palestine Action activists spray red paint and splinter windows at a Barclays branch over its shares in Elbit Systems.
Terrorist connection sought.
Same bank · less than half the damage · different politics
How it is done
SENTENCING ACT 2020, s.69
“Terrorist connection” — found by the judge, at sentencing, never by the jury.

You are charged with criminal damage. The jury is asked one question: did they break the windows? Obvious answer. Guilty.

Only then does the judge decide whether the offence had a “terrorist connection.” If it did, the sentence lengthens, automatic release disappears, licence and police monitoring extend for years, and parole can turn on renouncing your beliefs.

Same consequences as a terrorism conviction. Without a terrorism charge. Without a terrorism verdict. Without twelve citizens ever being asked.

How we got here
  1. Aug 2024Action at the Burnley branch. Palestine Action is a lawful organisation — proscription is still eleven months away.
  2. Oct 2024Barclays sells its shares in Elbit Systems. The campaign wins.
  3. Jul 2025Palestine Action proscribed. The Home Office does not cite the Burnley action in its case.
  4. Jul 2025A UN report names Barclays among companies complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
  5. Jun 2026Four Filton activists become the first protesters in British history sentenced as terrorists for criminal damage. 26+ years between them.
  6. Jun 2026The Burnley five are convicted of criminal damage. Nobody has mentioned terrorism.
  7. Jul 2026After the verdict, the judge circulates the Filton ruling and signals he will consider a terrorist connection. The CPS then applies for one.
  8. Sep 2026Sentencing. The precedent that follows will not stop at Palestine.

Not on our
watch. Stop the country.

A state that can rename protest as terrorism after the verdict can do it to any movement, on any Monday, for any cause. Climate. Housing. Wages. Yours. This is the moment it is cheapest to stop — before September, before the precedent hardens, while it still takes a judge’s discretion rather than a jury’s consent.

01

Call the general strike

Move it through your union branch, your workplace, your student body. A day the country does not run is an argument Parliament cannot ignore.

02

Fill the court

Preston Crown Court, September. Sentencing happens in public for a reason. Be the public.

03

Break the silence

Most people have not heard this. Post the two numbers. £500,000 walked. £212,805 may be terrorism.

04

Put it to your MP

Demand s.69 be amended so no one is sentenced as a terrorist without a jury finding it. Quote Hansard back at them.

SOURCES: Novara Media, Middle East Eye, Declassified UK & PA wire copy, 27 Jul 2026 · Amnesty International UK, 13 Jun 2026 · Verfassungsblog, “The First Judicial Application of Section 69” · Sentencing Act 2020 s.69; Terrorism Act 2000 s.1; Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.247A — legislation.gov.uk · Hansard, HL Deb 3 Mar 2021.
NOT ON OUR WATCH
Check the facts. Then pass it on.