The activists pleaded not guilty to damaging property for a purpose prejudicial to the interests or safety of the UK.
Published On 16 Jan 2026
Five pro-Palestinian activists have pleaded not guilty to breaking into a British military airbase and damaging two planes in protest against the UK’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The five are accused of breaking into the Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in central England in June and spraying red paint over two Voyager aircraft used for refuelling and transport.
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The campaign group Palestine Action, which has since been banned by the government, said it was behind the incident.
Lewie Chiaramello, Jon Cink, Amy Gardiner-Gibson, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie and Muhammad Umer Khalid appeared on Friday at London’s Old Bailey court by videolink from prison.
They pleaded not guilty to damaging property for a purpose prejudicial to the interests or safety of the United Kingdom. Their trial is due to start in January 2027.
No applications for bail were made, despite it having been one of five key demands put forward by the activists. The others included the right to a fair trial – which they say includes the release of documents related to “the ongoing witch-hunt of activists and campaigners” – ending censorship of their communications, “de-proscribing” Palestine Action and shutting down Elbit Systems, which operates several UK factories.
Palestine Action launched in July 2020 and describes itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”. The UK parliament voted in favour of proscribing the group on July 2, 2025, classifying it as a “terrorist” organisation.
More than 1,600 arrests linked to support for the proscribed group were made in the three months following the ban’s introduction. The ban has been challenged in court.
Hunger strike
This week, Chiaramello was one of three activists allegedly linked to Palestine Action who ended their hunger strike in prison, according to campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.
Chiaramello had fasted every other day, as he is a Type 1 diabetic, for 46 days.
Cink and Gardiner-Gibson – the latter now known as Amu Gib, also took part in a hunger strike in detention.
“We have never trusted the government with our lives, and we will not start now. We will be the ones to decide how we give our lives to justice and liberation,” Gardiner-Gibson said in a statement issued by the group on Wednesday.
One remand prisoner, Umer Khalid, continues to refuse food.
