Magistrate rejects Crown bid to remove Briton convicted under Terrorism Act

A landmark application by the Crown to have a British man removed from Gibraltar for what the Stipendiary Magistrate described as a minor offence under the Terrorism Act was dismissed by the court on Thursday.

British national Anthony Farrell, 66, was convicted earlier this year under the Terrorism Act for a displaying a statement that could arouse reasonable suspicion he was supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation. He was sentenced to a six-month conditional discharge.

The court heard how on National Day 2025, Farrell was carrying a sandwich board and wearing a t-shirt including a line that authorities said could be seen as expressing support for Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation under Gibraltar and UK law.

Farrell was arrested that day when he was spotted by Royal Gibraltar Police officers.

On Thursday, the Crown applied to deport Farrell in the first application of its kind in Gibraltar aimed at a British national.

Prosecutor Jamie Hammond said Farrell, although a British national, is a non-Gibraltarian and does not hold any documents entitling him to reside in Gibraltar.

As a non-resident Briton, Farrell can stay in Gibraltar for 90 days out of every 180 days.

Mr Hammond said the Crown “strongly suspects” but cannot prove that Farrell has overstayed, and that he had committed a “serious offence”.

Farrell’s presence in Gibraltar is a “detriment”, Mr Hammond said, adding he had shown “no remorse”, did not show “any respect to Gibraltar’s harmonious community” and had shown an “overt support” for Hamas.

Mr Hammond also told the court Farrell is part of an organisation that “propagates misinformation on Gibraltar’s public officials that amounts to conspiracy”.

“He has no remorse whatsoever and considers the Terrorism Act unlawful...so what stops him from repeating his offending?” Mr Hammond said.

But Stipendiary Magistrate Charles Bonfante said there was a “contradiction” in the Crown's application, adding the court was being asked to deport Farrell for what amounted to “a minor offence”.

He also questioned whether the court should be asked to consider the defendant “potentially committing” the offence of overstaying in Gibraltar if there was nothing to prove that he had.

Farrell represented himself in court and told the judge he had given the police an opportunity to intervene when he was stood near Fish Market Lane and was “not intending to sneak into Main Street”.

He said he was looking for guidance from the police on the statements on his shirt and sandwich board but the advice was never forthcoming. Instead he was arrested.

“I do not overtly support Hamas,” Farrell said, but added he “refuses to condemn Hamas”.

“The whole essence of this application is to paint me in a bad light,” he later told the court, adding that he does not consider himself a threat.

Farrell said that he is a British passport holder and his 90 days since the treaty came into provisional implementation had not yet expired.

Mr Bonfante sentenced Farrell to a six-month conditional discharge for the offence under the Terrorism Act and dismissed the Crown’s application for his removal, noting Farrell had no prior convictions.

“In my view this is not a record that gives rise to a genuine and serious threat,” he said.