Three women convicted of displaying paraglider stickers at London protest

Three women who displayed images of paragliders during a protest in central London have been found guilty of arousing suspicion that they were supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Paragliders were used by Hamas to breach the Gaza/Israel border during the terror attacks on 7 October where a large number of civilians were killed, and others were taken hostage.

Pauline Ankunda, 26, Heba Alhayek, 29, were seen on footage of a large demonstration on 14 October last year with images of paragliders attached to their backs.

A third woman, Noimotu Taiwo, 27, was also seen with the pair carrying a sign with an image of a paraglider affixed to it.

The first images of the trio were captured in the Piccadilly Circus area, before the march continued into Whitehall where they remained together and were seen on further footage of the protest.

Some of the footage of the trio was uploaded to ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) and the Metropolitan Police then made a public appeal for information to identify them.

Following the media appeal, Ankunda and Alhayek gave themselves in at Croydon police station on 30 October, while Taiwo was arrested on 8 November.

In their prepared statements upon charge, Ankunda and Alhayek accepted they had placed the images on their backs while Taiwo acknowledged that she had taken possession of the sign and had seen an image attached to it.

By displaying these images, a week after attacks had been carried out involving the use of paragliders, the prosecution said there would be a reasonable suspicion that the women were celebrating the action taken by Hamas, and therefore supporting that proscribed organisation.

During the trial, the prosecution was able to prove that the three women were acting deliberately, and knew they were wearing or displaying the images at the protest.

Today at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, all three women were found guilty of carrying or displaying an article in a public place in such a way as to arouse reasonable suspicion that they were supporting Hamas. 

They were each handed a 12-month conditional discharge on the same day.

Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “All three women knowingly displayed the images of paragliders in central London, therefore arousing suspicion that they were supporting Hamas – a proscribed terrorist organisation.

“The fact that these images were being displayed in the context of a protest opposing the Israeli response to the Hamas attacks demonstrates a glorification of the actions taken by the group.

“Displaying these images could be viewed as celebrating the use of paragliders as a tactic to breach the Gaza/Israel border, and creates a risk of encouraging others to support Hamas.

“When people break the law – whether by hateful speech, supporting proscribed organisations or by threatening public order – we prosecute swiftly and independently.

“We have already prosecuted a string of offences linked to events in the Middle East and we are working closely with the police and community leaders to make sure our approach commands public confidence.”