Factory Gaza protesters ordered to do unpaid work

Three pro-Palestine protesters who smashed a sign and sprayed red paint at a factory over its alleged links to Israel are to be punished with unpaid work.

Hollie Mildenhall, 25, and Georgia Coote, 28, held an eight-hour stand-off on a roof at Pearson Engineering in Newcastle while Summer Oxlade, 29, tipped rubble from the back of a truck at the site, the city's crown court heard.

They claimed their actions in February 2025 were lawful as their disruption would stop weapons being sent to kill people in Palestine, but jurors found their actions to be illegal.

Mildenhall and Coote, both from Newcastle, and Oxlade, from Houghton-le-Spring, were found guilty of causing criminal damage.

Each was ordered to pay £600 compensation and given a 12-month community order, with Oxlade to do 100 hours unpaid work and Coote and Mildenhall 80 hours apiece.

The trial had heard Pearson Engineering was owned by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, an Israeli-state owned weapons company, although a company representative told jurors no Tyneside-built items had been supplied to Israel.

The three women in red overalls arrived at the factory on Scotswood Road with two men linked to the Palestine Action group at about 05:20 GMT on 18 February 2025, the court heard.

While the men "intimidated" the guards before fleeing, the women got into their positions, the court was told.

Mildenhall and Coote climbed on to the roof of the factory's gatehouse while Oxlade dumped rubble from a flatbed truck in the entrance before trying to chain herself to the vehicle, the trial had heard.

Red paint was sprayed from fire extinguishers and a slingshot used to try to break windows.

Their stated aim was to "cause maximum disruption to production" at the site due to their "mistaken" understanding military machinery was being built there to be used by Israeli forces in Gaza, prosecutor Michael Bunch said.

The women on the roof were not removed until about 13:40, meaning the factory's day shift staff had been unable to go to work, Bunch said.

The cost of repairing the damage they caused totalled almost £7,500, while two security guards had their coats ruined, the prosecutor said.

One of the guards said the "scary" event was "like a terrorist attack" with the intruders appearing "cold and calculating".

None of the women had previous convictions, although Oxlade had a caution for criminal damage after spray-painting a statue in Newcastle during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, while Coote had been given a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly, the court heard.

In mitigation, the court heard the women had "legitimate concerns" about the factory's activities and their barristers asked the judge not impose to restraining orders or make them pay compensation.

Mira Hammad, for Oxlade, said the victim was a "multimillion-pound company" and the costs of the damage were "incidental", but the payment would be "punitive" to the women.

Coote's barrister Rosalind Burgin said her client was a principled woman who worked to support refugees and other disadvantaged people.

Ife Thompson said Mildenhall was "deeply moved by injustice" and the making of a restraining order banning the women from going near Pearson Engineering would impinge on their right to protest.

Judge Edward Bindloss said all three protesters were motivated by "conscience" and "genuinely believed" disrupting the factory would stop a "genocide".

He said he had reduced the amount of compensation to be paid in light of the women's submissions and decided not to impose a restraining order.

The judge said it had been a "non-violent protest" and none of the women "used or threatened any violence at all".

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.