Sixth person charged over RAF base break-in
BBCA sixth person has been charged by counter-terrorism police after two military aircraft were damaged during a break-in at RAF Brize Norton last year.
Lara Downes, of Norwood, London, was charged on Thursday with criminal damage and entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom.
The incident on 20 June 2025 saw activists break into the Oxfordshire air base and spray paint two RAF Voyager planes, causing £7m of damage.
Downes, 44, has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
She is the sixth person to be charged in connection with the break-in.
Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 30, Jony Cink, 25, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, Lewis Chiaramello, 23, and Muhammad Umer Khalid, 22, all denied the same charges Downes faces during an appearance at the Old Bailey in January.
A trial for the five had previously been set for 18 January 2027 at the Old Bailey.
The group Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident last year, saying it was a protest against the UK's support of Israel's war in Gaza.
Soon after, the British government responded by proscribing the group as a terrorist organisation.
But in February, the High Court ruled that the Home Office's decision to proscribe Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation had been unlawful.
That judgement is currently being challenged by the government at the Court of Appeal, with a rare five-judge panel hearing the case last month.
Previous court hearings heard the cost of the Brize Norton incident could rise to just under £15m.
In September last year, Defence Secretary John Healey said new technology and surveillance had since been installed at the Oxfordshire base, alongside the recruitment of more security guards, making the air base "much safer".
