Pro-Palestine protester spared jail over £150k damage to Edinburgh weapons factory
No prison time for activists who smashed defence firm roof during demonstration
A pro-Palestine protester who was part of a group that caused more than £150,000 worth of damage to the building of an international weapons manufacturer in Edinburgh has been spared a jail sentence.
Madeline Norman and two co-accused cut holes in the perimeter fence before scaling the building and setting off flares at the Leonardo UK premises at the city’s Crewe Toll in January 2023.
Norman smashed skylight windows, air conditioning units, light fittings and pipes on the roof of the building during the protest against the company’s alleged involvement in the supplying equipment to the Israeli army.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the large scale pro-Palestine demonstration began around 5am and resulted in around 30 police officers attending the scene including armed response and a police helicopter.
The court heard ambulance and fire crews were also deployed to the area and the total cost of the damage caused to the building during the protest amounted to £151,399.
Leonardo is an Italian multinational firm specialising in aerospace, defence and security and has been forced to install new security measures including new fencing and razor wire outside the Edinburgh building due to protests.
Norman, formerly of Edinburgh, and now of Durham, and two co-accused Silas Curtis and Ludovico Caminati pleaded guilty to maliciously causing damage to the premises on January 19, 2023.
Sentence on 31-year-old Norman has been deferred due to the former art student being detained on remand for 18 months in England on a separate matter.
She appeared at the Capital’s sheriff court for sentencing on Friday where solicitor Molly Alba said her client had stood trial at the Old Bailey in London on the analogous matter resulting in a hung jury.
The court heard Norman is currently on a restriction of movement order confining her to her home between 10pm and 7am and a new trial date has been set down for June 2028.
Ms Alba said Norman is currently unemployed but has previously worked as a support worker and an art therapist.
Sheriff Ian Anderson told Norman she had carried out “a very serious offence” but he was willing to impose a community payback order as an alternative to custody.
Norman was sentenced to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months.
Sheriff Anderson added: “If you don’t comply with the order then you could be arrested and as this is an alternative to custody you could be punished in various ways with one of them being a custodial sentence imposed.”
Co-accused Silas Curtis and Ludovico Caminati, both from Glasgow, were previously sentenced to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work in the community as a direct alternative to custody.
Curtis, 31, and Caminati, 26, were also handed a restriction of liberty order where they were electronically tagged and ordered to stay within their homes between 10.30pm and 6.30am for six months.