Palestine Action activists convicted in UK break-in at Elbit factory

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A jury in London’s Woolwich Crown Court convicted four Palestine Action activists on May 5 for criminal damage connected to a raid on an Israeli defense factory in the United Kingdom, setting sentencing for June 12. The convictions were for breaking into the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol and smashing equipment with tools including sledgehammers and crowbars, according to the verdict described by prosecutors and jurors.

The court found Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani guilty of criminal damage. The case stemmed from an Aug. 6, 2024 attack at the Elbit Systems site, where prosecutors said Head was behind the wheel of a van that crashed through the gates.

AP reported that the activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before the group ended up in a confrontation with security guards and police. During the incident, one officer suffered a broken back, according to the account presented in court.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer told the court that the attack was “meticulously organized” to cause maximum damage and to get information about the company. Prosecutors said the raid caused an estimated 1 million pounds ($1.36 million) in damage, according to the report.

Corner was also convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm after he struck police Sgt. Kate Evans twice in the back with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine. Two other defendants, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were acquitted of criminal damage in the same proceedings.

The convictions came after earlier legal proceedings in which jurors acquitted the six defendants of aggravated burglary but could not reach verdicts on the criminal damage charges. In this case, the criminal damage counts were the ones that reached a jury decision, resulting in the four guilty verdicts.

The raid is also part of a broader legal and political backdrop involving Palestine Action, AP reported. The U.K. government banned the group as a terrorist organization, and London’s High Court said the decision was unlawful but kept the ban in place while the government appeals.