Following a social media plea, the three were located by the Metropolitan Police, who then charged them under the Terrorism Act.
The Westminster Magistrates’ Court granted 12-month conditional discharges to Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, after Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram declared he had “decided not to punish” the three of them.
After their photos appeared on social media during the October demonstration, the trio faced significant censure and went on trial.
It happened one week after over a thousand Israelis were killed in attacks by Hamas militants who entered Israel using paragliders.
Alhayek and Ankunda were charged with pinning paraglider pictures to their backs, and the third defendant was accused of pinning one to a placard’s handle.
Alhayek and Ankunda turned themselves in to the Croydon Police Station after the Metropolitan Police issued a social media plea to locate them, the court was informed.
According to the Terrorism Act, all three of them were accused of carrying or exhibiting a sign that would raise a reasonable suspicion that they were sympathizers with the outlawed group Hamas.
