A London court handed down years-long sentences to Palestinian activists who carried out a violent raid at an Israeli-owned arms firm last year.
Seventy-two people were arrested for holding up signs in support of Palestine Action outside a London court on Friday, as sentencing began for four of the group’s activists, the Metropolitan police said.
The demonstrators had gathered to support the defendants who were convicted of criminal damage earlier this year after they raided an Israeli defence firm’s UK factory in August 2024.
Chaotic scenes were mentioned in court when a defendants’ barrister Rajiv Menon claimed that he had been subjected to interrogation by police before entering.
Samuel Corner, Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani have been jailed at Woolwich Crown Court for seven years and eight months, five years, five years, and four years and eight months respectively for causing £1.2 million of damage and breaking a police officer’s spine in a “terrorist” raid on an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
Mr Corner was also convicted of causing Grievous Bodily Harm without intent after he hit a police officer twice in the back with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine, during efforts by police and Elbit security to stop the raid.
Prosecutors said on Friday that the group’s raid damaged 40 weapons including military quadcopter drones.
Attack on Elbit Systems
The trial has drawn significant attention with the defendants claiming they acted to prevent Elbit’s weapons from being used against Palestinians in Gaza, and in opposition to genocide.
The activists, all wearing red boilersuits, were in an old prison van which crashed into the Elbit Systems site near Bristol in the early hours of August 6 2024. They destroyed computers, drones, and other equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars they had taken with them.
They were denied bail and spent 18 months in prison awaiting trial. They were freed on bail in February after a jury cleared them of charges of aggravated burglary, but returned to prison after being found guilty of criminal damage by a jury in early May.
-
Police arrest a supporter of the banned Palestine Action group at a protest in Leeds. EPA -
Nationwide protests are taking place over six days against the proscribing of activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. EPA -
Protestors from the group Defend Our Juries demonstrate outside the UK government hub Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty Images -
A protester in Leeds. AFP -
The demonstration in Edinburgh. Getty Images -
A protester is removed by police in Leeds. AFP -
A protester writes out a placard in Leeds. AFP
The trial at Woolwich heard how Corner used a 7lb sledgehammer to strike Sgt Evans as she went to assist another officer in the arrest of Kamio.
When a security guard told the activists they were committing criminal damage, Kamio, a nursery school teacher, replied “We’re f****** doing that”.
She cried out in pain after being tasered by a police officer, in the seconds before Corner’s attack on Sgt Evans.
The Avon and Somerset Police Federation described the attack as “despicable”, saying of Corner: “This wasn’t protest. This was violent and deliberate thuggery that has had devastating consequences for a courageous and dedicated police officer.”
Sgt Evans told the court she had to take three months off work to recover from spinal surgery and suffers ongoing back pain.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the raid on the Elbit factory had been “meticulously organised” to cause “as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company”.
The defendants have complained since the trial that restrictions imposed by the judge prevented them from putting forward evidence about the situation in Gaza.
A concerted campaign has also been mounted to try to pressure the judge into dropping the terror link when he passes sentence, including a failed bid to remove him from the case, a complaint of “bias” to his professional regulator, and a letter signed by celebrities including Charlotte Church and Steve Coogan.
Proscription debate
The Elbit raid was one of the triggers for the UK Government to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, in a decision the High Court has now ruled was unlawful.
The group, co-founded by campaigners Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard, believes that so-called 'direct action' at UK sites linked to Israel's military will be more politically effective than fortnightly pro-Palestinian marches and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Court of Appeal judges are to decide on Monday whether to uphold the High Court ruling.
-
Protesters celebrate outside the High Court in central London after Palestine Action won a challenge over its ban in the UK as a terror group. PA -
Protesters react after hearing the decision. AFP -
About 100 people outside the court began cheering and chanting 'Free Palestine' after the ruling was announced. PA -
A demonstrator outside the court, where Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori won her challenge on two grounds. Getty Images -
Protesters celebrate after judge Dame Victoria Sharp said the court considered the proscription of the group to be disproportionate. AFP -
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would appeal against the decision. PA
Over 2,000 people have since been arrested for taking part in organised demonstrations against the proscription, where they held up signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Hearings of the case have been heavily policed, and supporters of the defendants have staged regular protests in the street outside the courtroom.
