Liverpool man charged over plot to sabotage London Stock Exchange

A man from Liverpool has been charged by police after an alleged plot by a group of activists to disrupt the London Stock Exchange and cause ‘huge economic damage’ was exposed.

Sean Middleborough, 31, of Woodlee Road, will appear at Wirral Magistrates' Court on Monday, charged with conspiracy to cause public nuisance, London’s Metropolitan Police said. Five other people - including two women aged 28 and 26 from Liverpool - were also arrested in connection with the plot and have been bailed pending further inquiries.

National newspaper the Daily Express passed information to the Met on Friday (12 January) after unearthing the conspiracy by activists from the group Palestine Action. The aim was to 'lock on' to the stock exchange on the morning of January 15 and prevent it from trading.

Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas of the Metropolitan Police said that despite having only limited time to act 'significant arrests' were made in London, Liverpool and Brighton, which prevented the first 'part of a planned week of action'.

The Express, who sent a reporter undercover for two months, said the group intended to climb on top of two revolving doors at the front of the building and use bike locks to attached themselves to the entrance. More activists would block other entrances armed with fake bank notes painted with blood.

On Sunday, Palestine Action published a post on X hitting out at the trade centre in the capital. “The London Stock Exchange raises billions of pounds for the apartheid state of Israel and actively boasts about their support for Israeli businesses,” the group wrote. “The exchange also trades shares in weapons manufacturers who arm Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people.”

A series of coordinated arrests were made by police forces in Brighton, London and Liverpool. Two women, aged 28 and 26, were arrested in Liverpool, and a 27-year-old man was arrested in Brighton. A 29-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man were arrested in London.