Senior MPs have criticised prosecutors for dropping their review of a judge’s decision to give lenient sentences to three protesters exposed by The Mail on Sunday for sporting ‘Hamas paragliders’ pictures on their jackets.
Heba AlHayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimotu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, displayed the pictures during a pro-Palestine march in London, seven days after the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel that left nearly 1,200 dead.
There was national outrage after The Mail on Sunday revealed the women at the march, as the pictures on their jackets celebrated the method Hamas terrorists used to fly into Israel from Gaza to unleash their killing spree.
Our front page story sparked a public appeal by police, which led to the arrest of the three women and charges of inviting support for a proscribed organisation, which is punishable by up to 14 years jail.
Judge Tan Ikram found them guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court but did not impose a jail term or community order, saying their lesson had been ‘well-learned’.
But questions were raised about the judge’s impartiality after it emerged that on his LinkedIn page he liked a video which branded Israel a ‘terrorist’ state and called for a free Palestine.
Although the judge said he liked the post by mistake, the Crown Prosecution Service investigated after two Jewish groups complained to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
But last night the CPS said no action would be taken, adding: ‘We have carefully considered the option of judicial review of the judge’s decision and concluded that this is unlikely to be successful.’
Tory ex-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said he would write to the Director of Public Prosecutions demanding a full explanation.
Mr Buckland, a former judge, said: ‘We can’t afford any suggestion of intrusion of politics into cases like this. They are sensitive enough.’ He said Judge Ikram should have declared his social media activities before the trial or recused himself.
Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘His [the judge’s] sentiments are in the wrong place. It’s vital full impartiality is proven in every decision made.’
It was reported recently that AlHayek, who is originally from Gaza, is having her asylum status reviewed by the Home Office.
Last night the Home Office said: ‘In some circumstances it is appropriate to revoke protection status where evidence emerges that status was obtained by deception, or where someone represents a threat to our national security or demonstrates extremist behaviour.’
