A Palestine Action activist who was accused of fracturing a police officer’s spine with a sledgehammer during a raid on an Israel-based defence firm’ site has been cleared of grievous bodily harm.
Samuel Corner, Leona Kami, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were accused of carrying out an attack at Elbit Systems in Bristol after a prison van was driven into the factory 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, 21, Ms Rogers, 22, and Mr Devlin, 31, not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury deliberated for 36 hours and 34 minutes but could not reach verdicts for charges of criminal damage against all six defendants.
Corner, 23, 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.
Meanwhile, no verdict was also reached on charges of violent disorder against Ms Kamio, Mr Corner and Ms Head.
The six activists hugged each other in the dock as a dozen of their supporters cheered from the public gallery above.
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
Before the verdicts were delivered, Mr Justice Johnson told jurors: ‘You said that you believe that you can go no further than you have got to already, and that no amount of time can 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.’
Tensions were rising in the jury room towards the end of last week, the court heard.
On Wednesday, shortly before they returned with the verdicts, the judge said: ‘One of your notes last week indicated that your discussions were getting a little intense towards the end of the week.’
The judge added that 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’.
Footage played to jurors showed the six wearing red jumpsuits during the demonstration in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
Prosecutors said the six tried to ’cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company’.
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
All of the defendants except Mr Devlin gave evidence, telling jurors they had entered the factory without permission and damaged Elbit’s equipment including computers and drones.
They told jurors the sledgehammers were solely for destroying property and were not ‘in any circumstances intended to injure security staff’.
The court heard the defendants had not planned to use violence in the action.
At around 3.30am on August 6 2024, Ms Head, a charity worker, drove a prison van into the site’s perimeter fence and then used the vehicle ‘as a battering ram’ to get into the factory, their trial heard.
In what Ms Head called ‘the craziest 20 minutes of my life’, the six carried out their action before being arrested by police.
Prosecutors alleged that as security guards tried to stop the activists, the guards were sworn at and told to leave, had sledgehammers swung at them and were whipped, while one was sprayed with a foam fire extinguisher.
Rajiv Menon KC, defending, said they had not expected security guards to enter the factory during their action, adding the defendants were ‘completely out of their depth’.
The trial heard the defendants ‘genuinely believed’ their demonstration at the factory would help the Palestinian cause in Gaza.
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
The judge thanked jurors for their ‘very long period of jury service’ on the trial, which lasted about 12 weeks.
They were sworn in on November 17 and sent out to deliberate on January 13 before returning verdicts on February 4, though several days of deliberation were missed due to ill jurors.
He relieved them of jury duty for the next ten years, given how long they served, saying: ‘If you are summonsed in the next 10 years you will have a ‘get out of jury free card’ to use.’
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’, ‘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.’