
Bargain Hunt star Ochuko Ojiri charged with TERRORISM after Met Police investigation
The 53-year-old art dealer - real name Oghenochuko Ojiri - was held over a probe into terrorist financing.
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The star is due to appear in court tomorrow
Ojiri is the first person to be charged to be charged with a specific offence under section 21A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 9.
The TV star, who has also appeared on Antiques Roadshow, is charged with eight counts of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business within the regulated sector.
The offences allegedly took place between October 2020 to December 2021.
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Ojiri was charged following an investigation into terrorist financing by officers from the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU), part of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.
More to follow...
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RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
PSNI warns protesters over Palestine Action support
Police have warned protesters carrying placards or wearing clothing showing support for Palestine Action at demonstrations in Northern Ireland that they may be committing an offence. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally urged anyone taking part in protests this weekend in the region to ensure they act within the law. Last weekend, a 74-year-old woman was arrested for wearing a Palestine Action T-shirt in Belfast at an anti-racism rally. Palestine Action was proscribed by the UK Government in July, with the ban meaning that membership of, or support for, the group is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000. More than 500 people were arrested last weekend on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed group as demonstrations took place in central London. Mr McNally said: "The right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are fundamental human rights. "They are protected in law and allow individuals to engage in peaceful protest. "However, these rights are limited by the need to uphold the rights of others, protect public health and safety, minimise disruption to normal life and by the need to prevent and detect crime." The senior officer said the PSNI would facilitate "lawful, peaceful protest". He added: "We will be in attendance at several protests this weekend to ensure the safety of everyone present. "If we identify potential criminal offences or unacceptable impact on the rights of others, we will take lawful and proportionate action. "If an offence is suspected we will record evidence eg by way of handheld or vehicle mounted-cameras and where possible warn persons suspected of committing an offence. "We may arrest and detain anyone suspected of committing an offence. Ultimately, the decision on whether to prosecute will rest with the Public Prosecution Service." Mr McNally pointed out that Palestine Action is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000. He said: "This has no impact on other groups' or individuals' right to protest about Gaza, but anyone showing support for Palestine Action, including with placards or messages on clothing, may be committing an offence. "I would urge everyone to consider the seriousness of a prosecution under the Terrorism Act and the very real long-term implications this could have on their future." The 74-year-old woman arrested in Belfast last weekend was later released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service. She had been wearing a T-shirt which said "We are all Palestine Action". Amnesty International has called on the PSNI to "uphold people's right to protest against the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza". Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: "The police must be clear that they have obligations under the Human Rights Act and international law to facilitate the right to peaceful protest. "Carrying out arrests for peaceful expression on this issue would be a violation of international human rights law. "Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the UK Government should be focusing on taking immediate action to put a stop to Israel's genocide."

The Journal
2 days ago
- The Journal
Councillors wear Palestine Action t-shirts in Newry as PSNI issues warning ahead of protests
TWO INDEPENDENT COUNCILLORS wore Palestine Action t-shirts at a protest in Newry last night, as the PSNI today warned it will take action against anyone seen to be supporting the group this weekend. Independent councillors Alan Lawes and Cieran Perry attended a weekly Palestinian support protest yesterday in Newry, Co Down and displayed t-shirts and posters supporting Palestine Action. Palestine Action is a UK-based protest collective and last month, a vast majority of MPs in the UK parliament backed the Labour government's move to ban the group as a terrorist organisation. The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000. The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF base in Oxfordshire on 20 June, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million (€8m) of damage . Councillor Alan Lawes of Meath County Council said his intention in showing support for Palestine Action last night was to 'expose the hypocrisy of Keir Starmer's Government in banning a non-violent direct action protest group while also supplying weapons to slaughter children in Gaza'. While the UK Government last year suspended around 30 arms export licences to Israel , British Foreign Secretary David Lammy noted that this is not a 'blanket ban or an arms embargo'. Councillor Cieran Perry pictured holding the megaphone in Newry last night Cllr Cieran Perry Cllr Cieran Perry Meanwhile, Councillor Cieran Perry, Independent Group leader on Dublin City Council, said Britian is using 'draconian legislation to silence ordinary people calling out genocide'. Lawes said his action in Newry was in 'solidarity with the peaceful protesters arrested in London at the weekend in a disgraceful attempt to muzzle voices opposing the Israeli genocide'. Over 500 people were arrested in London last weekend, and their average age was 54 – some 112 of them were over 70 years old. In Belfast, a woman in her 70s was arrested last weekend for wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt. Protests are planned in Belfast and across the North this weekend and the PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally warned anyone planning to protest 'to ensure they act within the law'. He said the move to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 'has no impact on other groups' or individuals' right to protest about Gaza'. Advertisement However, he warned that 'anyone showing support for Palestine Action, including with placards or messages on clothing, may be committing an offence'. 'I would urge everyone to consider the seriousness of a prosecution under the Terrorism Act and the very real long-term implications this could have on their future,' said McNally. While McNally said the right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are 'fundamental human rights protected in law', he added that these rights are 'limited by the need to prevent and detect crime'. He said that if the PSNI 'identifies potential criminal offences' it will 'take lawful and proportionate action'. 'We may arrest and detain anyone suspected of committing an offence,' said McNally. Councillors Alan Lawes (left) and Cieran Perry Cieran Perry Cieran Perry Perry told The Journal that the PSNI warning is 'really disappointing'. 'I thought the PSNI would have had more sense, given the sensitivities in the six counties,' said Perry. 'I would have thought they would be more sensible than to try and provoke people by arresting people for simply supporting a non-violent, direct action protest group.' 'The hypocrisy of the PSNI to begin to charge people with terrorism offenses when all over loyalist areas, there is a blatant disregard for that legislation.' A Presbyterian minister, Reverend Bill Shaw, was cautioned by the PSNI last week in Belfast for wearing t-shirts in support of Palestine Action. He too accused the PSNI of double standards over an alleged failure to tackle support for proscribed paramilitary groups. He told the Irish News: 'People within the loyalist community can display UVF flags, UDA flags. 'They can march with bands, with paramilitary insignia, all of which are prescribed to organisations, and nothing happens.' Elsewhere, Perry said the arrests so far have been 'both ridiculous and dangerous' and pointed to the ages of those arrested. 'Just looking at the age profile of the people arrested, including ex-veterans and people involved in the Church, they are almost the definition of non-terrorists, by any account.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal


RTÉ News
10-08-2025
- RTÉ News
Arrests reach 522 following Palestine protest in London
London's police service has said that officers had arrested 522 people the previous day for breaching anti-terror laws by supporting the recently proscribed group Palestine Action. In an update to its previous arrest tally, the Met said all but one of those 522 arrests took place at a Parliament Square protest and were for displaying placards backing Palestine Action. The other arrest for the same offence took place at nearby Russell Square as thousands rallied at a Palestine Coalition march demonstrating against Israel's war in Gaza. The 522 total is thought to be the highest ever recorded at a single protest in the UK capital. The Met made 10 further arrests, including six for assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added. The force said the average age of those arrested yesterday was 54, with six teenagers, 97 aged in their 70s and 15 octogenarians. A roughly equal number of men and women were detained. The government outlawed Palestine Action on 5 July, days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7 million (€8.08 million) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to Britain's indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. Britain's interior ministry has insisted that Palestine Action was also suspected of other "serious attacks" that involved "violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage". In a statement following the latest mass arrests, interior minister Yvette Cooper defended the government's decision, insisting: "UK national security and public safety must always be our top priority". "The assessments are very clear - this is not a non-violent organisation," she added. 'Concerns' But critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned its proscription as legal overreach and a threat to free speech. "If this was happening in another country, the UK government would be voicing grave concerns about freedom of speech and human rights," Greenpeace UK's co-executive director Areeba Hamid said Saturday. She added the government had "now sunk low enough to turn the Met into thought police, direct action into terrorism". Police across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since July 5, when being a member of Palestine Action or supporting the group became a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with such backing following their arrests at a July 5 demo. In its update Sunday, the Met revealed a further 26 case files following other arrests on that day are due to be submitted to prosecutors "imminently" and that more would follow related to later protests. It believes 30 of those held Saturday had been arrested at previous recent Palestine Action protests. Eighteen people remained in custody Sunday lunchtime, but were set to be bailed within hours, the Met added. It noted officers from its counter-terrorism command will now "work to put together the case files required to secure charges against those arrested as part of this operation".