Starmer’s wife was ‘scared’ out of own home by protesters

SIR KEIR STARMER’S wife was “effectively forced out of her own home” after pro-palestine activists launched a protest outside, a court has heard.

Demonstrators from Youth Demand placed children’s shoes in the politician’s front garden in north London and hung a banner on the hedge.

The campaigners arrived at the Labour leader’s home on Tuesday demanding Sir Keir use his influence to stop the UK sending arms to Israel.

A banner was unfurled outside his house that read: “Starmer stop the killing”, surrounded by red hand prints.

Leonorah Ward, 21, and Daniel Formentin, 24, who are both from Leeds, in West Yorkshire; and 23-yearold Zosia Lewis, from Newcastle-upon-tyne, were all charged with harassing a person in their home under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and breaching court bail.

Prosecutor David Burns told Westminster magistrates’ court that Sir Keir’s wife was “intimidated and scared” by the actions of the protesters: “This really affected his wife, she was effectively forced out of her own home.

“She returned from a shopping trip with her son and couldn’t return to her property.”

The defendants were also charged with breaching their bail conditions, namely “not to organise or participate” in any protest connected to Just Stop Oil.

All three denied the charge on the basis that Just Stop Oil and Youth

Demand are separate organisations. Youth Demand had called for a two-way arms embargo on Israel, saying that weapons made in the UK were being “used to cause genocide”.

The group also sprayed Labour HQ with red paint on Monday.

Mr Formentin, Ms Ward and Ms Lewis were all granted conditional bail. All three defendants were ordered not to participate in any procession or static assembly.

All three are due to appear again at the same court on June 19.