‘Palestine Action’ protester ‘fractured police officer’s backbone and attacked her with sledgehammer’ as group smashed their manner into Bristol weapons manufacturing facility, courtroom instructed

A ‘Palestine Action’ protester ‘fractured a police officer’s spine’ before ‘attacking her with a sledgehammer’ as he smashed his way into a Bristol weapons factory, a court has heard.

Samuel Corner, 23, was allegedly among a group of activists who crashed through a gate with an old prison van at the Israeli-linked firm Elbit Systems UK, in Patchway, on August 5 last year.

Campaigners were armed with fireworks, an axe and a paintball gun, and they wore red and black jumpsuits.

The ‘black team’ overwhelmed a security official who tried to fight them off with his umbrella while the red team ploughed through the loading gate, the court was told.

On the site itself, the activists wreaked carnage – causing damage and attacking security guards and police officers with sledgehammers, it is claimed.

Police Sergeant Kate Evans suffered back injuries after she was allegedly beaten with a sledgehammer by Corner.

Corner together with Charlotte Head, 29, Leona Kamio, 30, Fateema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, Jordan Devlin, 31, all deny aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.

He further denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent to PS Evans.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told jurors the attack was ‘meticulously organised’.

She said: ‘The premises had been targeted in advance, willing participants had been identified and a step-by-step plan of action devised and agreed upon.

‘The plan involved a large group of Palestine Action members entering the site wearing either black jumpsuits, the black team, or red jumpsuits, the red team.

‘The role of the black team was to overwhelm the security guards by threatening, intimidating and, if necessary, assaulting them so that the red team could break into the buildings in order to cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company.

‘The defendants in the dock were all members of the red team.

‘When they broke into the premises, they were each armed with a sledgehammer.

‘There is no doubt that these sledgehammers were intended to be used to damage property, but they were also carried as weapons to be used, if necessary, to threaten and damage people.’

Ms Heer said Corner went ‘so far as to strike a female officer across the back with his sledgehammer while she was on the floor, facing away from him’.

The prosecutor added security guard Nigel Shaw, who was also injured, was not supposed to be working on the night of August 5 but had been brought in as extra cover when a hole in the outer perimeter fence was discovered.

‘It was a rainy night and as he was patrolling the car park at the rear of the factory, at about 3.30 in the morning, he saw a white prison van come crashing through the fence into the yard followed by a group of people shouting “Free Palestine” or words to that effect,’ the prosecutor said.

CCTV footage showed about a dozen members of the black team following the prison van on foot.

‘In Palestine Action’s written plan for the attack, which was subsequently discovered by the police, they were referred to as “coverts” – the plan for the black team was for them to get away without being caught,’ Ms Heer said.

‘They were armed with a variety of weapons, including whips, hammers, axes, metal skewers, one of them at least had a paintball gun, smoke grenades, flares and fireworks which once they’d entered they proceeded to light and throw or fire across the car park at Nigel Shaw as he approached them carrying nothing more than his umbrella.

‘Angelo Volante, another security guard, had been manning the front gate on the other side of the building, but sprinted round to the rear yard when he heard Nigel Shaw calling for help on the radio.

‘As he turned into the car park, he saw fireworks being launched in the direction of Nigel Shaw by a group of intruders dressed in black.

‘When they saw him, Mr Volante, they turned their fire upon him.

‘One of them, one of the black team, approached Mr Volante carrying an axe and a whip.

‘As he got close to Mr Volante, Mr Shaw ran across and tackled him to the ground, striking him across the back of the legs with his brolly.

‘As Mr Shaw tried to detain this particular member of the black team, this masked intruder said to Mr Shore: “We come in peace”.

‘The group then aggressively drove Shaw and Volante back cracking whips and throwing fireworks, screaming at them to “F**k off” until Volante managed to grab a whip from one of them which he used in self-defence.

‘Eventually, the black team turned and left, retreating across the car park, towards the perimeter fence where the hole had earlier been discovered.

‘They climbed over the inner fence and disappeared into the undergrowth in the direction of the railway line.

‘As a result of this encounter, Nigel Shaw suffered a 4cm laceration to his head and abrasions to his back, shoulders and knees.

‘Caps on several of his front teeth, it seems, were also knocked out during the melee.

‘In subsequent footage of the activities that followed, he appears, as you will see, apparently disorientated with blood pouring down his face.

‘Following the incident PS Kate Evans was taken by ambulance to Southmead Hospital.

‘She was found to have a red mark over the right side of her lower back which later developed into a large bruise.

‘An X-ray was taken which showed there was a fracture to her lumber spine.

‘It was treated conservatively with pain killers and physiotherapy. However, she suffered constant pain which severely limited her mobility and meant she was unable to return to work for three months.

‘Since then she has suffered ongoing pain to her lower back, right hip and leg and has been confined to restricted duties.

‘The laceration to Nigel Shaw’s head was closed with staples and he received dental treatment to repair the damage to his teeth.’

Jurors were then played footage of the red team driving a prison van ‘like a battering ram’ into the shutter door of the loading bay.

Ms Heer told jurors: ‘They used fire extinguishers filled with red paint to spray the walls and floor.

‘They used crowbars and hammers to damage computer equipment and boxes of technical products, which they smashed apart.’

Yesterday Mr Justice Johnson warned jurors to put their views on the war in Gaza to one side.

He said: ‘Many people have strong views about events in the Middle East – some of you might feel that Israel is entitled to do what it has done in Gaza in order to defend itself against Hamas.

‘Others of you may feel that Israel has acted unlawfully, even that it has committed acts of genocide.

‘Everyone is of course fully entitled to their views but you as the jury in this case must put any views you have on those matters entirely to one side – they are completely irrelevant to your consideration of the case.

‘Your job is to listen to the evidence and to decide what the evidence shows on those matters you will need to decide.’

The group’s mission statement had declared: ‘Shut Elbit Down. This is our primary objective as Palestine Action. We can that by sticking together and ensuring it’s destruction with our brains and muscle.’

Ms Heer said the aim of attack was to ‘close the site for a significant period of time by targeting key systems and capital to the site operations, occupy the site for as long as possible to prolong the destruction’.

Prior to the protest, Leona Kamio ‘used Google to search for unisex boiler suits’ and ‘discussed (with her mother) whether she would be able to take homeopathic medicine with her to jail.

‘On 29 July 2024 she carried out a Google search for ‘do a rece’ and ‘Special kick that will break kneecap’.’

The prosecutor added: ‘The evidence in this case demonstrates that the attack upon the Elbit factory that night was planned in advance.

‘The purpose was to carry out as much damage as possible, and the role of these defendants to smash up as much property as possible and to keep smashing until they were forced to stop.

‘If that involved threatening the security guards or using force against them, or injuring them with those sledgehammers, then so be it – that is what they intended to do.’

Corner of Rock Hill, Georgeham, Kamio, of Clifden Road, Hackney, east London, Rajwani, of Commonside East, Mitcham, south London, Rogers, of Selborne Road, Enfield, north west London, Devlin, of Stoke Newington High Street, north London and Head, of Upper Clapton Road, Hackney, all deny aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.

Corner further denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent to PS Evans.

The trial continues.