By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER
Six Palestine Action activists who raided an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site have been cleared of aggravated burglary.
Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers, Charlotte Head, and Jordan Devlin, were accused of carrying out an attack at Elbit Systems in Bristol in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
All six faced trial at Woolwich Crown Court over allegations they used or threatened unlawful violence and used sledgehammers as weapons after a prison van was driven into the factory.
Each member of the group was acquitted of aggravated burglary, while jurors also found Ms Rajwani Ms Rogers and Mr Devlin not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury deliberated for 36 hours and 34 minutes, but could not reach a verdict for charges of criminal damage against all six defendants.
Corner faced a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm to Police Sergeant Kate Evans, which he denied; however, no verdict was reached on the allegation.
During the trial, the officer told the court she believed her spine had been ‘shattered’ when she was struck on her lower back while arresting a female activist.
The blow left the officer with a fracture to her lumbar spine as well as a large bruise on her back, which left her unable to return to work for three months.
Palestine Action member Samuel Corner, 23, (pictured), was accused of attacking Police Sergeant Kate Evans with a sledgehammer and fracturing her spine. He has since been cleared of grievous bodily harm
From left: Jordan Devlin, Leona Kamio, Charlotte Head, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rodgers and Samuel Corner have been cleared of aggravated burglary over a break in at Elbit Systems factory in Bristol
Meanwhile, no verdict was also reached on charges of violent disorder against Ms Kamio, Mr Corner and Ms Head.
The six activists hugged in the dock as a dozen, while their supporters cheered them on from the public gallery.
Following the hearing, a Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: ‘These verdicts are a huge blow to government ministers who have tried to portray Palestine Action as a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation.’
They said Palestine Action ‘never advocated causing harm to people’ and their ‘aim was always to save lives by causing damage to companies like Elbit Systems whose made-in-Britain quadcopter drones have been killing innocent civilians in Gaza.’
Footage played to jurors showed the group wearing red jumpsuits and white hard hats during the raid on the factory in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
Body-worn footage belonging to one of the security guards showed three of the defendants shout ‘f*** off as they approached him – one holding a lighted flare and the two others wielding sledgehammers.
Charity worker, Ms Head, 29, drove a prison van into the site’s perimeter fence before using it as a battering ram to get into the factory at around 3.30am on August 6, 2024, the court was told
The six carried out their action, in what was described by Ms Head as ‘the craziest 20 minutes of [her life], before they were arrested.
Prosecutors said the six tried to ’cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company’.
Security guards attempted to stop the group, but were sworn at and told to leave, they alleged.
Footage played to jurors showed the six wearing red jumpsuits during the demonstration in the early hours of August 6, 2024
Leona Kamio seen being arrested by police in footage taken during the raid
They added that the guards had swung sledgehammers at them and were whipped, while one was sprayed with a foam fire extinguisher.
The defendants – except Mr Devlin – all gave evidence and told jurors they had entered the property without permission and damaged Elbit’s equipment, which included computers and drones.
They intended to use the sledgehammers solely destroy property and had not planned to use violent action, the court was told.
Rajiv Menon KC, defending, said the group had not expected security guards to enter the factory during their action, and were ‘completely out of their depth’.
Meanwhile, the defendants ‘genuinely believed’ their demonstration at the factory would help the Palestinian cause in Gaza, the trial heard.
The court heard jury discussions had been a ‘little intense’ towards the end of the week, Mr Justice Johnson said.
Before the verdicts were delivered, the judge told jurors they could go no further than they already had and ‘no amount of time’ could make ‘any material difference’
The foreman agreed, and the judge said in that case: ‘I’m not going to ask you to deliberate any further.’
The judge added that it is ‘entirely understandable’ when working through ‘a great deal of evidence’ to find agreement between at least 10 people on 19 counts.
They were reminded not to ‘feel any pressure of time’, but the judge asked them to let him know if reaching verdicts starts to feel ‘impossible’.
He later thanked jurors for their ‘very long period of jury service’ on the trial, which lasted about 12 weeks.
One of the group was seen being taken down by police officers with a taser after the incident at the Israel-based factory
Another clip showed the group breaking into the building by using an old prison van to ram through a large roll-up door leading to a loading dock
A final clip shows one Palestine Action member being dragged out of the building by police after all six were arrested
They were sworn in on November 17 and sent out to deliberate on January 13 before returning verdicts on February 4.
However, several days of deliberation were missed due to ill jurors. They were also relieved of their jury duty for the next ten years due to their length of service.
‘If you are summonsed in the next 10 years you will have a ‘get out of jury free card’ to use,’ the judge said.
While the jury was in retirement, the court heard posters had been put up on bus stops and lampposts near the building which said ‘The jury decide not the judge’.
Posters also read: ‘Jury equity is when a jury acquits someone on moral grounds’, and: ‘Jurors can give a not guilty verdict even when they believe a defendant has broken the law’.
The prosecution said it was aware of the signs being put up in public places during the trial which set out the principle of ‘jury equity’ – the capacity of a jury to return a verdict according to conscience – and that police had been taking the posters down.
‘The way that we have been dealing with it is asking the local police to remove them from bus stops, lampposts, but they keep reappearing,’ Deanna Heer KC told the judge.
One juror sent an email to the court flagging they had seen the displays, saying it seemed someone was ‘trying to influence the jury and their decisions’.
Hours before Wednesday’s verdict, the judge said: ‘I’m aware that notices are being displayed in various places in the local area, I think on the route from Plumstead to court and perhaps in other places, which might appear to be intended to influence you, the jury.
‘They obviously weren’t put up by any of the defendants and it’s obviously not something that should be held against any of the defendants.’