Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid

[Twiglets1]

The BBC report that four Palestine Action activists have been jailed after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm.

Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were convicted of criminal damage in a retrial after they broke into the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.

Corner was jailed for seven years and eight months for criminal damage and inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant. The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said Corner had had no justification for the "extreme and gratuitous force" used.

The case is believed to be the first time that convictions for criminal damage have been classified as being connected to terrorism.

The judge said their actions had aimed to influence the government.

Head, who drove the prison van into the compound, was sentenced to five years in prison, Kamio was also handed a five-year jail term, and Rajwani received a prison sentence of four years and eight months.

The offenders will not qualify for early release from prison provisions and the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free.

All four will also serve an additional one year on a licence in the community at the end of their terms.

Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said it was "gut-wrenching to see four young people jailed for direct action against an arms supplier to Israel".

He added that the sentence was a "truly dangerous attack on the right to protest".

Labour MP John McDonnell said the scale of the sentences was "truly shocking".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce950111xk7o

Is breaking a policewomans back ok if you say you're doing it because of Israel's actions in Gaza?

I don't know that - what I see is certain people on MN choosing not to condemn the violent attack on the policewoman.

With your comments I assume you won't mind condemning what happened to her and agreeing that Samual Corner in particular should have received a long prison sentence for his crimes?

For a comparison: there is a twin court action against a group of 5 activists (2 British) taking place in Germany. Some of this is even more difficult for historic reasons, although important distinction is that no violence against a person took place -

The activists can be seen wearing signs saying "Palestine Action" and shouting: "Germany finances, Elbit Systems produces, Israel bombs." The video also shows them spray-painting "Baby Killers" on the walls.
Prosecutors have accused them of smashing screens, PCs, sensitive measuring equipment, and electronic devices.
The five have also been charged with using symbols of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, which is proscribed as a "terrorist organisation" in Germany.

Trial of 'Ulm 5' activists: How Germany is dealing with its Palestine Action case - BBC News

I don’t know what he feels in the middle of the night.

I think Palestine has truly become a mental illness for some people.

It’s a middle class cult

I’m shocked by the actions of the judge in gagging the barristers and intimidating them into being unable to submit a proper and honest defence.

The defendants actions were taken directly against an Israeli arms manufacturer on British soil, making weapons for a genocide; we don’t want these people here!

What is worse is despite not being found guilty of any terrorism offences, or even having them put to the jury, the judge then sentenced them under Terrorism legislation.

I truly thought the British legal system was above being bought, but it appears pockets of it are not and this is deeply concerning for all of us.

The defendants actions were taken directly against an Israeli arms manufacturer on British soil

You misspelled 'police officer'

And the sledgehammer attack?

My understanding is that there will be a hearing on 15 June of Charlotte Head's defence lawyer. Rajiv Menon KC, faces contempt of court proceedings after he was accused of misleading the jury and defying judge Mr Justice Johnson's rulings in the first criminal damage trial.

I would want the trial to have been conducted correctly. However, if there is any likelihood of the assault being further reduced - it may be possible to ask for it to be reviewed. Of course, that can go either way.

Hmmm. So Israeli-made arms on British soil is a no-no.
And British-made arms on British soil?Which have been found to have been used in the ongoing conflicts in Yemen and Sudan? Funnelled there through various third parties of course, but specifically purchased for that purpose. Blood money just trickling it's way through the UK economy. Are those people wanted here?
I can't understand why there have not been protests outside these premises, as the radical left are known for their moral consistency after all.

The sledgehammer attack on the police woman was evil and wrong. I utterly condem it.

But I'm extremely uncomfortable with people being sentenced for terrorism charges which they were never found guilty of by a jury.

I thought trial by jury was a given in this country but apparently not.

As if we don't already know that Polanski is a raging misogynist

Police Sgt Kate Evans has had to be taken off normal duties because of the damage to her health. This means that she can no longer work as a Sergeant and has been reduced to PC. Her salary is therefore reduced.
(I read the above in a newspaper, but cannot find it to link.)

Yet over on Twitter they are saying her injuries were minimal and treated with a paracetamol. Because otherwise they might have to confront the possibility that the Elbit vandals don't neatly fall into the "goodies" box.

They either have to pretend that she wasn't actually injured, or just completely ignore her existence.

From the Law Gazette on the CoA judgement of Menon’s case:

This unprecedented attempt to criminalise lawyers for doing their job and representing their clients fearlessly should never be repeated.'
Bar chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said she had followed the case 'with concern', adding: 'A barrister has a duty to represent their clients fearlessly and judge-instigated contempt proceedings risk a chilling effect on the profession. The Court of Appeal judgment is welcomed, and it is hoped that this now is an end of this troubling episode.'

www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/court-lacked-jurisdiction-to-pursue-silk-accused-of-contempt/5126756.article

OK thanks @Ellen2shoes - so what I posted was arising from the earlier trial and Menon has won that appeal.

None of the defendants was convicted. Following a retrial, a jury last week found four of the defendants, including Menon’s client Charlotte Head, guilty of criminal damage.

The government's proscription of Palestine Action as a terror organisation is lawful, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

In one of the most significant rulings on national security in recent years, five of the most senior judges in the country overturned an earlier decision from the High Court that the ban had breached the right to protest and had been incorrectly taken by ministers.

But five Court of Appeal judges concluded in a hearing on Monday that the ban had been "justified and proportionate".

In a statement, the group's co-founder Huda Ammori, who brought the original legal challenge against the Home Office, said she intended to appeal the ruling to the UK Supreme Court.

Palestine Action has remained banned since the High Court ruling in February to allow for further legal arguments and give the government time to consider an appeal.

The proscription made it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gy927jx88o

The judge's sentencing remarks are extremely interesting.
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/R-v-Charlotte-Head-and-others-sentencing-remarks.pdf

I have seen lots of comment on here that Samuel Corner lashed out 'in the heat of the moment' when he thought his friend was being attacked and that he was merely overwhelmed by the situation.

In the sentencing remarks it says that Samuel Corner swung his sledgehammer at the injured security guard and narrowly missed him. He swung his sledgehammer twice at PC Buxton when he was defenceless on the floor causing a minor injury. He then swung his sledgehammer twice at PC Kate Evans, including raising it above his head and bringing it down on her back.

He was attacking people with his sledgehammer all over the place! Not a one off action in defence of his friend at all.

I know it's a small thing in the context of the much worse things that Samuel Corner did that day but even this little detail stands out to me - he smashed up a disabled toilet with a sledgehammer. Who does that??

These 2 bits were really interesting.

Corner hitting the police officer and breaking her spine then telling her as she was lying there in pain that she 'bore responsibility'. What a fucking toad that boy is.
And then Sgt Evans still tried to help him with her broken back.

Thanks for posting these notes xx.

Remarks about Corner-

The Pre-Sentence Report suggests that you are remorseful. I do not accept that
there is any substantial and genuine remorse. After striking her, and when it
must have been obvious that she was injured and in great pain, you told her that
she bore responsibility for Israel’s conduct in Gaza. You declined to answer
questions in interview. Nothing in your defence statement acknowledged the
harm that Sergeant Evans had been caused. You advanced an unrealistic account
that you were acting in self-defence. You refused to accept that that her injuries
amounted to really serious harm. As Officer Evans says, you have never even
said sorry, although your counsel says that is now something you would wish to do.

Commendation for Sgt Evans.

I commend Police Constable Kate Evans. All police officers take an oath to act
with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality and to accord equal respect to
all people. Constable Evans discharged that oath to an exceptional degree. After
her spine had been fractured by Mr Corner’s sledgehammer, her reaction was to
try to help him. He claimed to be in discomfort because his handcuffs were too
tight. Sergeant Evans, although in great pain, manoeuvred herself into a position
where she could check that the handcuffs had been applied correctly and were
not causing unnecessary discomfort.

Excerpt from opinion piece by Geoffrey Robertson KC

You may not sympathise with the Elbit four’s methods. But you should be outraged by their treatment under the law
Geoffrey Robertson
was reprinted yesterday:

https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2026/jun/20/elbit-four-law-jurors-criminal-damage-terrorism

‘The Elbit four will be labelled as “terrorists” because they were convicted, in substance, of a quasi-terrorist offence that was never charged, never put to the jury, and never proven by the prosecution. The jurors who found them guilty of criminal damage had no idea their verdict would be treated as a verdict on terrorism. The prosecution was not required to establish the terrorist connection beyond reasonable doubt, or to any standard at all.’

Outraged by their treatment?

No - I'm outraged by what they did and in particular what they did to the policewoman.

Anything you want to say about what happened to her or is all your sympathy with them?

Of course any violent act should be punished by law. The point that Roberson is making is about the procedure of the law with regards to all charges.

They should have been punished and they have been punished. That's all most of us want to see who have any empathy for the woman attacked by a sledgehammer.

If you read the piece, you might understand the points he is making about the highly irregular procedures regarding the case.

He is not disputing that anyone should or should not be punished for a violent crime.