Aggravated burglary charges against 18 Palestine Action activists dropped | UK news
Prosecutors dropped aggravated burglary charges against 18 defendants accused of breaking into the UK facility of an Israeli defense firm as part of Palestine Action, after a jury cleared six other defendants of the crime.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were acquitted of aggravated theft, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, in connection with the raid on the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024.
At a case management hearing at Woolwich crown court in south London. Deanna Heer KC said of all 24 defendants charged in connection with the break-in: “The prosecution re-evaluated the sufficiency of the evidence… In light of these decisions and with respect to all remaining defendants, the prosecution presents no evidence regarding count one, aggravated burglary.”
But he confirmed the Crown Prosecution Service would seek retrials for the six men acquitted of aggravated robbery on charges the jury could not reach a verdict on after deliberating for more than 36 hours.
Heer told Mr Justice Johnson on Wednesday: “As we stated at the end of the case, we now confirm the prosecution’s intention to seek a retrial on all counts on which no verdict was reached by the jury.
“This is punitive damages against all the defendants, against the three defendants on the allegation of violent disorder and against Mr Corner on the allegation of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.”
Jurors cleared Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin of violent disorder but were unable to reach a verdict on the charge against Head, Corner and Kamio.
None of the six were convicted of any crime, and at the end of the trial all but Corner were released on conditional bail after nearly 18 months in custody.
The other 18 defendants charged in connection with the Elbit raid also continue to face criminal damage charges, and some have also been charged with violent disorder. All are being held in prison awaiting trial except Sean Middlebrough, who escaped on parole from Wandsworth prison in south-west London in October last year.
The court heard that 13 of the 18 defendants have applied for bail, some of which will be heard on Wednesday. The remaining bail applications are expected to be filed on Friday.
Aggravated burglary requires a criminal to commit robbery with a weapon that he or she intends to use to injure or incapacitate a person. The first six defendants to stand trial carried sledgehammers, but their lawyers told the jury the sledgehammers were intended to be used to destroy property at the Elbit site.
Wednesday’s hearing took place amid tight security, with at least two dozen police officers stationed around the court building and numerous court security guards.
Citizens who wanted to watch the hearing were initially kept outside the courthouse door by security guards.
