Six people deny organising gatherings to support terror group Palestine Action

The charges related to plans for meetings in London, Cardiff and Manchester – which were allegedly organised over Zoom in July, August and September last year

LONDON: A protester is carried away by police during a pro-Palestine Action demonstration in Parliament Square. Credit: X

Six people have pleaded not guilty to organising mass gatherings in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

The charges related to plans for meetings in London, Cardiff and Manchester – which were allegedly organised over Zoom in July, August and September last year.

Former government lawyer Timothy Crosland, 55, from Southwark, south London; gardener Dawn Manners, 61, from Hackney, east London; David Nixon, 39, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire; student Patrick Friend, 26, of Grange, Edinburgh; Gwen Harrison, 48, from Kendal, Cumbria; and Melanie Griffith, 62, from Southwark, pleaded not guilty to various charges relating to arranging, managing or addressing meetings, knowing that the purpose was to support a proscribed organisation.

A total of 29 charges were put to the defendants in the dock of the Old Bailey on Friday.

Crosland and Dixon represented themselves at the hearing before Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.

The defendants, who are on bail, are facing a trial on June 22 before a High Court judge, with a four-week time estimate.

Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on June 20.

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