Three people charged with supporting Palestine Action

Two women and a man have been charged with showing support for proscribed terror group Palestine Action following a protest in central London.

Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 September, the Metropolitan Police said.

The three were arrested at a protest in Westminster on 5 July.

Supporting Palestine Action is a criminal offence, with membership or expressing support for the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The charges – the first in England and Wales – come before 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 of Thursday’s arrests: “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 group has won permission to challenge its controversial ban.

The High Court ruled on 30 July that proscription of the group, which has carried out break-ins at defence firms linked to Israel as part of direct action protests, should be reviewed.

Palestine Action was banned under terrorism law after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in June, and sprayed two Voyager planes with red paint. Police said the incident caused about £7m of damage.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later. She called the Brize Norton protest “disgraceful” and said the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.