Six Palestine Action activists have been cleared of committing aggravated burglary over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site.
Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were accused of threatening unlawful violence and using sledgehammers as weapons after a prison van was driven into Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024.
But after a trial at Woolwich crown court, south London, none were convicted of any offence.
All six were acquitted of aggravated burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and jurors found Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury deliberated for 36 hours and 34 minutes but could not reach verdicts for charges of criminal damage against any of the six defendants. This was in spite of all of the defendants, except Devlin, telling jurors they had entered the factory without permission and damaged Elbit’s equipment including computers and drones.
Additionally, no verdict was reached in the allegation that Corner, 23, inflicted grievous bodily harm on police sergeant Kate Evans, or on the charges of violent disorder against Head, Corner and Kamio.
Before the verdicts on Wednesday, Mr Justice Johnson told the jurors he was not going to ask them to deliberate further, because “you believe that you can go no further than you have got to already”.
The activists hugged one another in the dock as a dozen of their supporters cheered from the public gallery above.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, had told the jury that the defendants were all armed with sledgehammers, which she said were not only intended to be used to damage property but also as weapons “to be used if necessary to threaten and damage people”.
Heer alleged security guards were sworn at, had sledgehammers swung at them and were whipped, while one was sprayed with a foam fire extinguisher.
Rajiv Menon KC, representing Head, said any violence by the defendants was clearly unplanned, that the defendants had not expected security guards to enter the factory and were “completely out of their depth”.
He compared Head to the suffragettes, while describing Elbit Systems, of which Elbit Systems UK is a subsidiary, as a “dreadful company [that] has played a critical role in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians”.
The defence also argued that the security team had used excessive force and pointed to missing CCTV footage.
During the trial one juror asked the judge whether it would count as a lawful excuse if a defendant believed they were performing a life-saving action by destroying weapons used to kill civilians in an illegal genocide. Johnson said it would not, but Menon reminded the jurors of their absolute right to acquit.
Heer and Johnson both told the jurors, before they began deliberating, that they should disregard their views on the conflict in the Middle East.
After the verdicts, Rogers’ mother, Clare, said: “Our loved one’s action against Elbit Systems and the state’s brutal response have exposed the true values of the government. The government is determined to do business with Israel and protect its weapons industry at any cost.
“Our loved ones dared to poke this beast – and no expense has been spared in policing, prosecuting and imprisoning them without trial. Imagine if the government had put the same amount of money, resources and political will into preventing a genocide.”
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, which has organised rallies opposing the ban on Palestine Action, which took effect on 5 July last year, said the verdicts were “a huge blow to government ministers” who had “tried to portray Palestine Action as a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation”.
Amnesty International also said it showed how disproportionate the proscription decision was.
