Four activists convicted of criminal damage after an attack on a bank branch in Burnley have been spared immediate prison sentences. Preston Crown Court handed down suspended terms on 30 October, following a jury trial in June 2026 over damage put at £212,805.14.

The attack and the trial

The court heard that in the early hours of 5 August 2024, the group smashed windows at the Barclays branch on St James's Street, Burnley, and covered the front of the building with red paint. The activists said the branch was chosen because of the bank's financial links with defence companies. All five defendants in the case were convicted of criminal damage. A fifth defendant, Alma Yaniv, aged 70, is due to be sentenced separately on 8 December.

The sentences handed down

Judge Robert Altham, the Recorder of Preston, said Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31, had played the main organising role and was the most culpable of the four sentenced. She received two years in prison, suspended for 20 months, with 250 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months. Brendon O'Hagan, 28, Amanda Kelly, 32, and Mohammed Malik, 28, each received 20 months in prison, suspended for 20 months, with 240 hours of unpaid work within a year.

Why terrorism sentencing did not apply

The case had drawn wider attention because prosecutors asked the court to treat the offence as having a terrorist connection. The judge had already refused that request, finding that, although the damage was significant, it did not meet the high legal threshold for serious damage required under the terrorism legislation. That decision shaped the sentences: the four were sentenced for criminal damage alone, rather than under terrorism provisions that could have brought far longer terms and extended post-release conditions.