Court reduces two Palestine activists’ sentences from 12 to 10 months, again ignoring social work reports which did not recommend jail time

~ Cristina Sykes ~

Two Palestine Action activists, imprisoned for taking action to disrupt the operations of French arms company Thales in Govan, Glasgow, have been refused their appeal for immediate release from HMP Barlinnie. Stuart Bretherton and Calum Lacy have been imprisoned since the 20 August for ‘breach of the peace’, surrounding actions at the factory in June 2022. According to a Palestine Action press release, at an appeal hearing at Edinburgh’s High Court of Justiciary on 5 November, their sentences were nevertheless reduced from 12 to 10 months.

They were imprisoned alongside three others, collectively the ‘Thales 5’, who each face sentences between 12 and 14 months. The action at Thales sought to disrupt the French arms giant’s operations, highlighting its links with Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems, along with its direct supplies to the Israeli military.

Their imprisonment, superseding Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines against custodial sentences for those under 25 years of age, was issued by sheriff John McCormick to “deter” further actions against weapons companies in Scotland. Both he and the Judges overseeing the appeal ignored the social work reports, which did not recommend jail as appropriate sentencing in this case. 

“Stuart and I are expecting and having to go through pregnancy without him has been really difficult”, said Bretherton’s partner, Annie Lane, “but I think of the all those pregnant or with children living in Palestine under Israeli apartheid and I know what I am experiencing will never be as painful”.

The Thales 5 can be supported via a CrowdFunder set up by their family and friends. They are currently joined by eleven others in Britain and four in the United States imprisoned for taking direct action against Elbit systems and other arms companies complicit in the Gaza genocide.

Photo: Guy Smallman