Palestine Action activists jailed for £1.2m factory ‘terror’ raid after dozens arrested at protest
Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed following a raid on the UK factory of an Israel-based defense firm; The judge ruled that the incident was a “terrorist act”.
The operation caused £1.2 million in damage and left a police officer with a broken spine.
Samuel Corner, 23, a former Oxford student, was given the longest prison sentence of seven years and eight months. Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, were each sentenced to five years in prison, while Fatema Rajwani, 21, was sentenced to four years and eight months. All four will serve on license for one more year after their release.
Activists were involved in an incident in August 2024 in which a former prison van crashed into an Elbit Systems facility near Bristol.
Dressed in red overalls, they used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones and other equipment before police intervened. During the raid, Corner hit Pc Kate Evans twice in the back with a seven-pound sledgehammer, causing her spine to fracture.
At Woolwich Crown Court, Mr Justice Johnson told Corner he had used “excessive and unnecessary force against a defenseless police officer who was acting in the line of duty”.
Pc Evans, who helped take Kamio into custody at the time, released a statement explaining that he had been forced to give up his rank of sergeant and was still receiving medical treatment almost two years later.
“The emotional impact of this event is profound and ongoing,” he said, adding: “My sleep is disturbed, and I often wake up in a panic or have distressing dreams.”
Pc Evans also revealed he had received a hateful email from a troll who suggested he was “working for the Zionist occupation of Britain” and said Corner was unrepentant, saying there was “no sign of shock or remorse from him – he was simply trying to justify his actions with baseless and offensive claims that I was complicit in genocide.”
The judge ruled that the raid was an “act of terrorism” carried out with the aim of influencing the UK Government and intimidating a section of the public. He noted that activists “decided to take matters into their own hands” because they believed the Israeli government was committing genocide in Gaza and were frustrated with legal efforts to challenge it. Mr Justice Johnson added that they had been “reckless” about possible injuries and had live-streamed the raid to “glorify criminality and vigilance”.
Rajiv Menon KC, representing Head, disputed the finding of “terrorist link” and described it as “chilling, creeping authoritarianism that is undermining the fabric of our society”.
He cited previous cases where no such decision had been made, including one involving a man caught with weapons and vowing to start a “race war”. Corner’s Tom Wainwright pointed out the activists’ “conscientious motivation” and suggested that if the drones were not damaged, they “could have cost the lives of men, women and children in Gaza.”
He added that Corner was “horrified” by Pc Evans’ injury and wanted to apologize, attributing his difficulty expressing his emotions to ADHD and autism.
But prosecutor Deanna Heer KC argued that the magnitude of the damage, combined with Palestine Action’s aim to “influence government decisions and policies” in the UK and Israel, justified the terror link.
International military technology company Elbit Systems, which supplies equipment to the Israeli army, has received an insurance payment of £1.2 million.
“This was not damage to an empty or symbolic building. The defendants brought a gun into a working business, causing serious injury to a police officer,” stressed Elbit’s security manager Simon Robinson.
The judge’s decision means the four activists will serve at least two-thirds of their sentences for punitive damages and face Parole Board hearings for release. They will also be subject to extra monitoring and terrorism reporting requirements for 15 years.
The Elbit raid was among the triggers for the UK Government’s decision to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation; This decision was later ruled by the Supreme Court to be unlawful.
Court of Appeals judges will decide on Monday whether to uphold the Supreme Court’s decision.
Around 500 protesters gathered outside the court in support of the defendants, leading to the arrest of more than 100 people holding signs supporting Palestine Action.
