VPol
Judge Jeremy Johnson at Old Bailey, London, refused to recuse himself after Palestine Action defendants pushed to remove himself from their sentencing hearing over claims of bias. ￭ The application sought his removal over plans to attach a “terrorism connection” at sentencing despite jury convictions limited to criminal damage. ￭ Justice Johnson rejected the request, stating: “any fair minded observer would not consider a real possibility of bias. I therefore refuse to recuse myself from sentencing proceedings.” ￭ Members of the Filton 24 Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Samuel Corner and Fatema Rajwani face sentencing on 12 June; Jordan Devlin and Zoe Rogers were acquitted. ￭ Defense argued the judge’s referral of KC Rajiv Menon, later ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal, amounted to an “unnecessary punitive response” and created an appearance of intimidation. ￭ The “terrorism connection” will be decided by the judge at sentencing.
