Starmer’s wife felt ‘sick’ when pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside home

Sir Keir Starmer’s wife has said she felt “a bit sick” when pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside their family home earlier this year, a court has heard.

On April 9, a banner that read “Starmer stop the killing” was hung outside the house, surrounded by red handprints, while rows of children’s shoes were laid in front of the door by Youth Demand activists.

Giving evidence in the trial of three protesters at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Lady Starmer said she had returned to her home by car when her son saw the protest.

“I didn’t want to stop and be obvious,” she told the court. Asked how seeing the protest had made her feel, she said: “I felt a bit sick, to be perfectly honest. I felt apprehensive and uncomfortable.”

Lady Starmer said she knew it was “people who were not agreeing with my husband” and drove around the corner before contacting his office.

Asked by Andrew Morris, defending, whether she knew it was a “peaceful protest”, Lady Starmer said: “It would look like a peaceful protest if it hadn’t been outside my home.”

Sgt Mark Upsdale of the Metropolitan Police, who arrived at the scene at around 2pm and ordered the arrests, also gave evidence at the trial.

Asked by Jacob Hallam KC, prosecuting, whether the protesters were making their intentions known to the officers, he said: “They said there was a plan but ‘we are not willing to tell you’, or something to that effect.”

Sgt Upsdale said holding the protest outside somebody’s house instead of outside the House of Commons or Sir Keir’s offices was “inappropriate”. He added: “I did not know if they were going to be there 10 minutes or a day.”

The court was shown footage shared on social media of the demonstration, which included clips of the three defendants speaking, and police body-worn camera footage of the protesters being arrested by officers outside the house.

Section 42 powers cover the harassment of a person at their home address if an officer suspects it is causing alarm or distress to the occupant.

Leonorah Ward, 21, of Leeds, 23-year-old Zosia Lewis, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Daniel Formentin, 24, of Leeds, have been charged under section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and with breaching court bail. All three have denied committing public order offences.

Mr Formentin, representing himself, told the court the protesters took “as many steps as we could to mitigate any threat”, and had no plans to confront anyone.

When Mr Hallam put it to him that they still would have been intimidating and threatening, Mr Formentin said: “No.”

When the prosecutor suggested he had never considered how someone living in the house might find the protest distressing, Mr Formentin said: “I think it could be seen as distressing.”

Youth Demand describes itself as a “new youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide”. Children’s shoes have been used at a number of pro-Palestine demonstrations to signify the children killed in Gaza.

The same group sprayed Labour HQ with red paint, and later claimed 11 people had been arrested in relation to that incident.

The trial continues.