Palestine Action founder urged followers to smash factories

A co-founder of Palestine Action urged fellow activists to ‘smash Israeli weapons factories up’, a court heard. Richard Barnard, 51, faces three charges following two speeches he gave to hundreds of supporters at pro-Palestine rallies in Manchester and Bradford last October. Barnard, of Maidstone, Kent faces two charges under the Serious Crime Act 2007 for acts ‘capable of encouraging the commission of an offence, namely criminal damage.’ He is also charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 with expressing an opinion…