Today, Wednesday 01 April, Benjamin Jamal and Christopher Nineham have been found guilty of breaching Public Order Act conditions imposed on them ahead of a protest they had organised in January 2025 and inciting others to do the same.

Jamal, 62 of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Nineham, 63 from Stop the War Coalition held several meetings with the Metropolitan Police in order to agree a route for a large national demonstration that they were organising. 

 In these meetings, the police raised concerns about Jamal and Nineham’s proposed plan to assemble near the BBC at Langham Place and march to Whitehall because the assembly point was close to a local synagogue and, as the march was planned for a Saturday, it would cause serious disruption to the life of the community, particularly the Jewish community on their holy day of Shabbat. There were also concerns about serious disruption to local businesses in central London because of the frequency of Saturday demonstrations.

 After the defendants rejected all alternative routes proposed to them, the police concluded a static assembly was necessary to prevent disorder, manage crowd safety and avoid spontaneous unplanned marches. The police set conditions under which the demonstration could take place, to ensure that protestors remained contained within a designated area in Whitehall.  Both Nineham and Jamal were aware of the conditions.

On Saturday 18 January 2025 during this demonstration, the defendants breached these conditions and incited others to do the same. The court found them guilty on all counts.

Jamal was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge while Nineham received a 12-month conditional discharge. Both defendants were also ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

Lionel Idan, Hate Crime Lead and Chief Crown Prosecutor said:

 “Benjamin Jamal and Christopher Nineham knowingly breached the protest conditions imposed on them and with it, showed a clear disregard for the disruption and impact their protest might cause to surrounding communities.

 "We hope today’s conviction serves as a reminder to anyone expressing their right to protest that the law is clear - you must comply with any conditions imposed on you.

 “The Crown Prosecution Service will never hesitate to prosecute these cases when these conditions are breached and the line into criminality is crossed.”