Four young people—Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Rajwani—were sentenced as terrorists this week for the crime of criminal damage. They broke into an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol, and caused approximately £1.2 million worth of damage. They livestreamed the whole thing wearing their, now iconic, red jumpsuits and they acted in the open.
A jury of their peers, that is, Brits, convicted them of criminal damage. Not terrorism or any kind of violent disorder. Simple criminal damage.
But here is where the really nightmarish situation begins. The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, had already decided that he would add a ‘terrorist connection’ to their sentences. He did this secretly, before the verdict and the jury was never told this was being considered. The defence was never given the opportunity to address it. The conviction came down on criminal damage charges. And then the judge, alone, unilaterally, declared that these young people are terrorists. Image
I did my research and found out this has never happened before in British legal history. Direct action protesters have never been treated this way. Criminal damage has never been considered a terrorist offence. The barrister for the defence, Rajiv Menon KC, called it ‘chilling and creeping authoritarianism’.
He is not wrong.
And then the judge, alone, unilaterally, declared that these young people are terrorists. Image
That’s not what happened. Criminal damage conviction carries up to 10 years of jail. People usually spend in jail half of their sentence before they qualify for parole. In case of crimes with maximum penalty of 2 years or more the judge can apply “terrorist connection” aggravating factor. When applied it means the convict has to spend at least 2/3 of the sentence in jail before they qualify for parole.
The protesters are part of organization that is recognized as terrorist organization by the UK government. This was recently confirmed by the highest UK court. The judge applied “terrorist connection” aggravating factor. He did not convict them of any additional crimes or declared anyone a terrorist.
Thanks for filling in the gaps. This version of the report, like most things, is intentionally misleading.
Yeah, it’s all just propaganda intentionally pushing one sided narrative. The wording is misleading on purpose. There is valid argument against the counter-terrorism act and it’s ok to use this case to show its flaws but lying about the case is not the right way to do it.
Windrush is far worse.
If you get in the way of making money in a capitalist society, you’re a terrorist now. Terror used to invoke images of death, violence, etc. Now it’s defacing or destroying property causing lost revenue.
Losing money is terrifying to rich people so it does make sense. I think they they need to get over that fear though. I hear immersion therapy is pretty effective.
The problem is all in their heads, and therefore the solution is to separate their heads from their bodies. Instant relief!
Couldn’t they appeal to a higher court in basis of this?
In the US it would be the easiest appeal for judicial bias ever filed.
In the UK? The rules are looser.
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I’m sure that’s in the works.
I don’t have much faith in anyone who has ever touched a powdered wig.
I dated a barrister for a while. She liked to wear her wig during times of intimacy. And that was one of the least of her kinks.
“The greatest injustice in modern British history” is a pretty high bar to clear.
The greatest british tragedy was the privatization of the commons. Creating a worker class they’d mistreat.
I just read up about the Cossacks being handed over to Stalin for execution by the British, so they could get their own POWs back from the communists.
Not just the Cossacks that fought with the Nazis, which would be understandable. All of them, including children. Even ones that had left Russia before communism took hold and never associated with the Nazis.
Because the Brits in charge of the handover were lazy and couldnt be fucked to actually follow the terms of the exchange properly.
Fuck Israel
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Ever notice how the countries who are the most pro-Israel are the same countries that restricted Jewish immigration during the holocaust? We never talk about how Jewish immigration to Palestine means they’re not immigrants to England or the US.
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Do you not know where the judge lives?
Good! It’s ABOUT Time we PUNISH Destruction of Property with HARSHER Sentences then if they had MURDERED someone Instead! THAT will Stop people!
You can’t fight lawlessness in your government by following the laws of your government.
I was wondering why there was a lack of capitalization in the headline and the headers but then I realized this was a shitty substack article.
This was an injustice but King Chuckle’s covering for his brother the Epstein files rapist is just as disgusting as this.
Maybe all the folks that died in the tower of London would have objections too
They got sentenced to about five years each, except for the guy who hurt a police officer and got two years more. That on its face does not seem unreasonable to me for causing over a million pounds in damage even without any sort of terrorist connection. How long are people in Britain responsible for hundreds of thousands of pounds in damage each usually sentenced for, given that this sentence is so outrageous to the author?
The sentence length is not the problem here. The problem is that the judge has established legal precedent for “upgrading” a crime to terrorism. Secretly at that, without informing the defense or jury.
So now any crime can get you punished under terrorism statutes at the judge’s discretion and the judge can announce that after the jury has delivered a verdict. That’s not how a justice system should work.
I hope that the defense will move for a mistrial and win. Not that I think the perpetrators should walk free; they certainly seem to be guilty. But they should be convicted under the correct statutes for their crimes.
It’s not the length of the sentence that matters, it’s what a Terrorism charge does to you upon release. They may only get 5 years in a cell, but this is effectively a life sentence.
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Listen… what happened on my juvenile record was sealed… 😜
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