Four out of six Palestine Action activists who stood trial over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site have been convicted of criminal damage.
Charlotte Head, 29; Samuel Corner, 23; Leona Kamio, 30; and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were all found guilty on Tuesday of smashing up property, including drones, manufactured by Elbit Systems and computers at its factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024.
After the jury deliberated for more than 14 hours, Corner was also found guilty by a majority of 11 to one of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Sgt Kate Evans, whom he struck with a sledgehammer. Corner was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were acquitted of criminal damage.
On the day of the raid, a van carrying the defendants, dressed in red boiler suits, crashed through the fence surrounding Elbit’s factory.
The jury at Woolwich crown court heard that the activists used sledgehammers and crowbars they had brought with them to destroy computers, drones, and other equipment, and used fire extinguishers to spray red paint across the walls and floor.
Deanna Heer KC, for the prosecution, told the court that Corner hit Evans in the back with a 7lb (3.2kg) sledgehammer – while she was on all fours facing away from him, attempting to arrest Rogers – fracturing the officer’s spine.
Evans was unable to return to work for three months as she recovered from the injury, and told the court that she was still on restricted duties and experienced back pain more than 20 months on.
Heer said Corner would have known that the sledgehammer was capable of causing “really serious harm”. But, giving evidence, Corner told the court that he panicked, and, having just been pepper-sprayed, acted to protect a co-defendant he believed was being seriously hurt.
The jury’s findings mean its members did not accept that he intended serious injury to Evans and that Corner will face a maximum sentence of five years for the assault rather than life imprisonment. The maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years’ imprisonment for damage exceeding £5,000, although it tends to be much lower for first-time offenders.
On Thursday last week, all of the defendants except for Corner sacked their barristers and elected to give their closing speeches in the trial themselves.
Head, who burst into tears as her guilty verdict was read out, told the court that she had done so because “after some decisions made by the court, I no longer feel like they [my lawyers] are permitted to represent me in a way that does us all justice”.
Rogers, in her closing speech, told the jury: “I am proud that I overcame my fear and took action, because of course I was scared, you don’t just break into an Israeli weapons factory for fun. And I can say with absolute certainty that this is the best thing I have ever done, because there is a good chance that because of our actions that night, innocent lives were saved.”
Rajwani said it had been a “privilege and my honour to stand trial for disarming Israeli military drones”.
In closing speeches, the defendants also accused security guards at the factory of using violence against them. They also said there had been no evidence on the impact of their actions on Elbit, because it would have highlighted the weapons the company was manufacturing.
Tom Gent, chair of Avon and Somerset Police Federation, said: “Today’s guilty verdict is a significant step toward justice, but it does not undo the life-altering trauma inflicted upon Kate. No officer should go to work simply to uphold the law and return home with a fractured spine.”
Devlin said: “It is a travesty of justice that my co-defendants aren’t here with me, as the damage to Elbit weapons they’re accused of was to save Palestinian lives.”
Rogers said: “This is a miscarriage of justice and the litmus test has been failed for democracy and rule of law in this country.”
The defendants were all being retried for the offences, having previously been acquitted, by another jury, of aggravated burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. At the previous trial, jurors found Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin not guilty of violent disorder, and failed to reach a verdict on violent disorder with respect to the other three defendants and on charges of criminal damage against all of them. Prosecutors subsequently chose not to pursue the violent disorder charges against Head, Corner and Kamio.
After the first trial, all of the defendants except Corner were released on bail, having spent 18 months in jail on remand. Additionally, aggravated burglary charges against 18 more defendants due to stand trial for the events at Filton were dropped, although they still face other charges.
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Johnson ordered that, given the guilty verdicts, Corner, Head, Kamio and Rajwani would be remanded in custody pending sentencing, which will provisionally be on 12 June.
