A pro-Palestine protester who caused serious disruption by climbing Big Ben and sitting on the London landmark for 17 hours has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Daniel Day, 30, triggered a huge emergency services response and caused road closures around Westminster when he scaled the Elizabeth Tower on March 8, 2025.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Mr Day cost the taxpayer at least £92,000 after he refused to come down and livestreamed his protest on Instagram while chanting “Free Palestine”.
Mr Day was sentenced on Monday by Judge Tony Baumgartner to a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
The judge said: “This was well-planned offending and you knew precisely what you were doing.
“Foolishly you climbed a far way up the tower, far enough to cause very serious harm to you and possibly others if you fell.”
The judge said that Mr Day had “little insight into your offending or any real remorse”, but noted that he had not offended since the Big Ben incident and had strong personal mitigation including failing eyesight.
Mr Day was ordered to attend up to 20 rehabilitation days and he will be electronically monitored for four months as part of his suspended sentence.
The judge added: “It’s good to see people having strong principles, but it doesn’t give a licence to break the law.
“You, and people like you, must understand that like everyone else you are subject to the laws of this country. You and others like you do not get to decide which laws you will follow and which laws you will break. If that were to happen, the rule of law would break down.”
Mr Day, who is unemployed, was found guilty at trial in June of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance with the stunt, and pleaded guilty to trespassing on a protected site, namely the Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House.
He wore a black shirt and green tartan kilt, entering the dock carrying a rucksack and holding a stick to help with his failing eyesight.
The court heard how Mr Day clambered over railings and started his climb of the tower at 7.20am, having carried out prior research on restoration of the tower, donned thermals for the climb, and brought a camera to livestream his actions.
Prosecutor Jack Guise said Mr Day unfurled a Palestinian flag after reaching a ledge midway up the tower, and stayed there until around midnight.
The protester took his shoes off during the climb, with his feet then bleeding on to the tower’s stonework.
Metropolitan Police officers had no option but to wait for him to agree to come down.
As news of his protest spread, pro-Palestine supporters started to gather in Parliament Square and police assessed that Mr Day was “being encouraged by having a gallery to play to”, said Mr Guise.
In video clips played during the trial, Mr Day said: “We’re being violently attacked by police for peaceful protest.
“That’s why I’m taking action at the so-called hub of democracy today.”
He also shouted to those below: “Listen, no police are to come anywhere near me. If you come too close, I’m going higher.
“I’m here peacefully, I’m here to harm nobody.”
As part of the safety measures, and to try to take away Mr Day’s audience, police officers shut down Bridge Street and Westminster Bridge, cut off pedestrian access to Parliament Square, and set out cordons on Whitehall and Victoria Embankment.
“Much of this was entirely visible to Mr Day,” said the prosecutor.
“He could see the blocks, he could see what was happening to traffic, and he knew he had caused this.”
The court heard mattresses had to be placed at the base of the tower as a safety measure.
Transport for London (TfL) lost an estimated £25,000 in bus fares as diversions were put in place and routes curtailed, while at one point Day’s supporters tried to block the movement of a fire engine.
More than 2,500 Parliament tours also had to be cancelled, at a cost of £67,000.
Mr Guise said dozens of police officers from across London had to be redeployed to the incident in Westminster, a cherry picker was on-site throughout the protest, and firefighters and paramedics spent hours on the scene during the day.
Day, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, was given a conditional discharge in June 2024 for failing to remove a facial disguise, and received £200 in fines in November 2024 for blocking a road during a protest.
He hugged supporters in the well of the court after being released from the dock with a suspended prison term.
