Three people charged with showing support for Palestine Action

The first people have been charged with showing support for Palestine Action in England and Wales after the group was recently banned as a terror organisation, the Metropolitan Police said.

Two women and a man were arrested in Westminster following a protest in central London on July 5.

Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney, north-east London, were charged with showing support for a proscribed organisation under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 16.

The charges come ahead of a planned protest in support of the group on Saturday afternoon in London’s Parliament Square, with organisers expecting more than 500 people to attend.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Anyone who displays public support for Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation, is committing an offence under the Terrorism Act and can expect to be arrested and, as these charges show, will be investigated to the full extent of the law.

“These charges relate to three people arrested in central London on July 5.

“We are also planning to send case files to the Crown Prosecution Service for the other 26 people arrested on the same day.

“I would strongly advise anyone planning to come to London this weekend to show support for Palestine Action to think about the potential criminal consequences of their actions.”

The organisers of Saturday’s demonstration, Defend Our Juries, said protests will continue until a High Court challenge over Palestine Action’s ban in November.

More than 200 people were arrested at a wave of protests across the UK in response to the proscription last month as part of the campaign co-ordinated by Defend Our Juries.

The move to ban Palestine Action came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.

Published: 07/08/2025 by Radio NewsHub