A pro-Palestine protester who climbed Big Ben and stayed there for nearly 17 hours whilst chanting “Free Palestine” slogans has avoided jail after being handed a suspended sentence.
Daniel Day, 30, was handed a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, by Southwark Crown Court yesterday.
Day was convicted of causing “serious disruption” after scaling the tower at the Palace of Westminster on March 8 last year.
The climb prompted a major response from emergency services and led to road closures across the Westminster area, causing severe disruption.
According to the court, Day’s actions cost the taxpayer £92,000. He refused to come down from the Tower for hours, livestreaming on Instagram.
Day also chanted “Free Palestine” during the incident and unveiled a Palestinian flag in the process. He was found guilty in June of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and admitted to trespassing on a protected site.
During his livestream and in shared videos on Instagram, Day suggested in one clip that he had planned to remain on the high ledge for three-and-a-half days.
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Sentencing remarks
Sentencing Day at Southwark Crown Court on July 27, Judge Baumgartner described the offending as “deliberate, targeted” and carried out with “a high degree of planning.”
The judge noted that Day had conducted reconnaissance of the site in the weeks leading up to the climb, researched the recent restoration of the Palace’s stonework, and arrived equipped with thermal clothing, provisions, a mobile phone and a GoPro camera to broadcast his protest live on social media.
The court heard that Day mounted the railings of the Parliamentary estate at 07:19 and did not agree to come down until after midnight, remaining on the Tower for at least 15 hours.
By 09:00, he had climbed to a ledge on a corner of the Tower, removing his shoes to grip the stonework with his bare feet, which were bleeding. Despite the presence of a police negotiator, Day refused to descend and threatened to climb higher.
The disruption caused by the protest was significant. Tours of the Houses of Parliament were cancelled, with around 2,500 visitors affected and an estimated financial loss to the Parliamentary estate of £67,000.
Road closures led to the diversion or curtailment of 12 bus routes, affecting approximately 100,000 passengers, with Transport for London estimating a loss of around £25,000 in fares. At least six fire service vehicles and three ambulances attended the scene.
The judge also noted that 44 officers on duty in other London boroughs had to be redeployed to relieve those initially deployed to Bridge Street, directly impacting their ability to respond to emergency calls elsewhere. A reserve of 22 officers was also pulled away from a priority crime operation in Newham.
Judge Baumgartner acknowledged mitigating factors, including Day’s positive character references, the fact that all of his previous offending had been protest-related, and that he had not reoffended since the incident.
However, the judge said Day appeared to have “little insight” into his offending and continued to place “primary emphasis on the reasons for his protest rather than the harm caused.”
The Probation Service assessed him as a low risk of reoffending and suitable for a community-based sentence, a factor the judge said persuaded him to suspend the custodial term.
