4 days ago
Pictured: Activists charged over Palestine Action's break-in at RAF base
Two people who were charged after Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton have been pictured for the first time.
Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, are accused of spraying red paint onto two Voyager aircraft at the military base in Oxfordshire on June 20, alongside Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, and Jony Cink, 24.
They appeared in court accused of causing £7 million-worth of damage to two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton.
Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said they had been charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
The CPS alleges the offences are 'connected to terrorism' and all four appeared for a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, were pictured ahead of proceedings in a custody van.
A video posted by the group showed two people riding electric scooters across the base's runway.
One person can be seen approaching an aircraft and spray-painting its engine, before driving away. The pair then left the scene.
Before the hearing began Palestine Action posted on social media calling for its supporters to 'mobilise' and around a dozen flag waving demonstrators appeared in solidarity outside the court.
Inside the court building, relatives of the defendants hugged each other and wiped away tears.
The public gallery was packed with around two dozen keffiyeh-wearing supporters.
As the defendants appeared in the dock they clapped and waved to the supporters who cheered and shouted.
Shouts of 'free Palestine' at court
Judge Daniel Sternberg told the four defendants, who were remanded in custody, that they will next appear at the Old Bailey on 18 July.
As they left the court, there were loud shouts of 'We love you Daniel' and 'Free Palestine'.
Mr Jeronymides-Norie is a pro-Palestinian artist. He previously ran two now-dissolved art businesses in Barnet, North London.
He is understood to have lived with his father in a £1.3m Edwardian townhouse in Barnet, north London.
Surrounded by multi-million pound homes in a leafy residential street, the property now appears to be empty with a boarded-up front door and overgrown garden.
Neighbours said that police raided the house last Thursday with three territorial support units and a helicopter.
Ms Gardiner-Gibson is a former director of an eco-friendly farming co-operative from which she resigned last Friday.
She was director of The Peasant Evolution Producers Cooperative between Feb 19 2025 and June 27 2025.
The Peasant Evolution Producers Cooperative is an organic farming group of smallholders in Dorset, Somerset and Devon. A listing of the group on Co-Operatives UK says: 'We believe that being a peasant is a way to the future.
'We promote organic farming and sustainable land management, fairtrade, rural crafts and handmade, healthy local food'.
Ms Gardiner-Gibson's family live in a large, three storey, five bedroom property in a quiet residential street in Haringey, North London.
When approached by the Telegraph, Ms Gardiner-Gibson's mother declined to comment.
If convicted, the four defendants face up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action faces proscription
Legislation in favour of proscribing Palestine Action passed in the Commons on Wednesday.
The motion is expected to be debated and voted on by the House of Lords on Thursday before it becomes law.
The group, which has called its proscription unjustified and an 'abuse of power,' has challenged the decision in court and an urgent hearing is expected at the High Court on Friday.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister, told MPs the attack at RAF Brize Norton 'was just the latest episode in Palestine Action's long history of harmful activity'.
He added: 'Palestine Action has orchestrated a nationwide campaign of property damage featuring attacks that have resulted in serious damage to property and crossed the threshold from direct criminal action into terrorism.'
The minister faced backlash from some MPs who described the move as a 'draconian overreach' and likened the group to the Suffragettes.
Zarah Sultana, the independent MP for Coventry South, said: 'To equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn't just absurd, it is grotesque.
'It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth.'
CTPSE said a 41-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender in connection with the Brize Norton attack had been released on bail until September 19.
A 23-year-old man was also released without charge.
