SCOTLAND Yard was accused of inconsistent policing after arresting peaceful Palestine Action supporters outside a crown court and the Court of Appeal today.

Demonstrators were held under the Terrorism Act after displaying the message “I oppose genocide” and “I support Palestine Action” outside the Royal Courts of Justice.

A spokesman for the Defend Our Juries campaign group said: “The Met have yet again exposed the fiction that they ‘have no choice’ but to arrest peaceful people for expressing their opposition to genocide and the repression of those who resist it. 

“Yesterday, in front of the cameras, they chose not to carry out arrests. Today they’ve chosen to do the opposite. There is no integrity to their cynical abuse of power.”

The Court of Appeal heard that there were “plenty” of alternatives to target the actions of Palestine Action aside from banning them as a terror group.

The Home Office is challenging the High Court’s ruling in February that the decision to ban Palestine Action last July was “disproportionate” and had a “very significant” impact on human rights, and should be quashed. 

The proscription remains in place pending the outcome of the appeal, which entered its second day today.

Lawyers for Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori said that there were “plenty of alternative measures that could have been used” to limit Palestine Action’s activities that were “less intrusive” than banning it as a terror group. 

Meanwhile outside Woolwich Crown Court, protesters were detained for displaying signs that encouraged jurors to acquit six defendants accused of criminally damaging an Elbit System factory in Filton on the grounds of conscience today.

Zoe Rogers, 22, Samuel Corner, 23, Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are accused of breaking into an Elbit Systems factory before destroying property and clashing with security guards and police.

In her closing submissions, Rogers said that taking part in the raid at the Israeli weapons manufacturer’s site near Bristol on August 6, 2024, is the “best thing I’ve ever done” as there is a “good chance” that “innocent lives were saved” due to the action taken.

The defendants all deny criminal damage.

Corner faces a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to police sergeant Kate Evans, which he denies.

The trial continues.

The Met Police was contacted for comment.