Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Today we welcome back Jamie Lopez for an edition, who was at Preston Crown Court to see a judge conclude that the actions of the so-called Barclays Five did not meet the requirements to be treated as terrorism-related offences.
The hearing was the reason over 100 people gathered outside Preston Crown Court with placards to show their support for the five individuals. That protest passed largely without incident.
But seven people, including two women in their 70s, were arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation - Palestine Action - after placards referencing the group were spotted by Lancashire Constabulary.
What follows is a full report from the hearing and the protest.
We also have some good news for Lancashire County Council, more local government reorganisation notes and more.
Lancashire briefing
🔎 Services for vulnerable children in Lancashire have had praise heaped on them following an inspection.
The regulator Ofsted judged Lancashire County Council to be ‘outstanding’ in two out of four assessment categories and ‘good’ in the others . That was an improvement from the ‘good’ standard that was achieved across the board the last time children’s services were inspected in 2022.
The authority – whose patch excludes the standalone Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen council areas – was lauded for helping more children “to remain safely at home or within their wider family networks” rather than going into care.
That achievement was attributed to a “child-centred, family focused approach” where interventions are made and the appropriate type of support provided “at the right time and…the earliest opportunity for children and their families”.
The report was not flawless – it highlighted a need to better recognise the requirements of young carers and also found that the “consistency and quality of [protection]plans… focused on addressing the immediate risk of harm” could be better. Inspectors acknowledged a service awareness that there was “still more to do“ to embed a consistent approach to “safety planning”.
🗳️ The government has been formally asked not to call the new local authority for Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley ‘North Lancashire Council’.
It emerged on Thursday that the leaders of the three existing district authorities for those areas want them each to be namechecked in the title of the council that will replace their own in April 2028.
Their preference is for the new standalone – or unitary – authority to be called ‘Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley Council’.
However, ministers have insisted there must be unanimous agreement between the current councils covering the patch before they will consider changing the provisional North Lancashire moniker. Crucially, that includes Lancashire County Council, which has effectively vetoed the wishes of the district leaders by insisting ‘Lancashire’ should feature in the title of the new authority.
A formal submission made to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on Monday on behalf of Lancashire‘s 15 main councils – all of which are being abolished as part of a government-ordered shake-up – noted the desire of the three districts for a different name, but acknowledged that it could not be proposed as part of the official suggestion process because of the lack of unanimity.
🏠 Work to knock down an education hub that served children with additional needs in Blackburn for more than 15 years is set to start ‘as soon as possible’.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning committee approved the demolition plans for the former Kaleidoscope Youth Centre at a meeting on Thursday night.
The site on Lindisfarne Avenue, Higher Croft, was closed down in December 2025 following a review of council-owned assets, with its assortment of term-time and holiday activities for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) transferred to newer facilities in the area, like Newfield in Shadsworth.
In applying for prior approval to flatten its own site, tear up the foundations, and prepare it for potential future development, the council stated that the two single-storey structures have become ‘dilapidated’ and ‘redundant’.
Women in their 70s among those arrested as ‘Barclays Five’ appear to hear terror verdict
By Jamie Lopez
After a tense two hours at Preston Crown Court, a delighted and relieved Hmeera Atignisar was carried triumphantly through the doors of Court 10. Moments later, as around two dozen others celebrated on the upper floor landing, Mohammed Malik leant onto a barrier, tears in his eyes and his face in his hands, seemingly collapsed in exhaustion and either unaware or unable to respond to those around him.
In the distance, the loud chants, cheers and drums of more than 100 pro-Palestine supporters could be heard through the walls. At 10am, the large crowd had protested the potential designation of the actions of the so-called ‘Barclays Five’ as terrorism-related - now they were jubilant.
Atigniisar, a slight and unimposing 31-year-old, and Malik, a much larger 26-year-old, were two of those five, alongside Brendon O’Hagan, 28, Amanda Kelly, 31, and Alma Yaniv, 70, who feared they could face significant punishments.
Two years earlier, on August 5 2024, the group had vandalised the Barclays branch on Burnley’s St James’ Street, using hammers to damage the windows and covering the shopfront in red paint. Wearing masks and striking in the early hours of the morning, it was part of wider action seen at other branches as activists sought to lobby the banking giant to disinvest in Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. The damage cost more than £200,000 to repair.
They did not know then, or at any point until after the completion of their trial, that they could end up being subject of anti-terrorism legislation. After they were found guilty of criminal damage, the trial requested submission on whether section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020 applied - effectively asking whether there was a terrorist connection to the offence.
Had this been found to be the case, the group faced significantly longer jail sentences, losing the right to automatic release, and subject to an extended period on licence and under police monitoring.
