Palestine Action supporters protesting outside court are ‘a threat to justice’ the chief prosecutor warned today.
Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said demonstrations held outside the recent trial of six Palestine Action activists accused of breaking-in to the Israel-based company’s UK site in Bristol were ‘highly regrettable’.
The group were cleared of aggravated burglary last week, but the jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south east London failed to reach verdicts on several other counts.
A police officer was left with a shattered spine as she responded to the incident, which resulted in £1 million of damage to the Elbit Systems building.
The chief prosecutor declined to comment on the verdicts reached by the jury, but said he did wish to speak about the protests themselves, which saw large crowds of protesters attend court daily, with provocative posters placed along the route between the building and train stations nearby.
He told reporters today: ‘I think it’s a threat to the administration of justice when that type of behavior takes place.
‘I think conduct of that kind, which is clearly intended to have an impact on the jury, is hugely regretable.
‘I’m not going to opine as to whether or not an offence is committed, but it’s obviously a concern if that is the motiviation, which I’m sure it was, that amounts to some form of contempt.’
Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the Palestine Action protests outside court were ‘a threat to justice’
Posters were also 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’.
Mr Parkinson said police and the courts have been ‘forewarned’ to crackdown on repeat behaviour in the event of a re-trial.
Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were cleared of aggravated burglary last week, but the jury failed to reach verdicts on several other counts.
Jurors had found Ms Rajwani, Ms Rogers and Mr Devlin not guilty of violent disorder after deliberating for 36 hours and 34 minutes.
However they could not reach verdicts for charges of criminal damage against all six defendants, or on the allegation that Mr Corner inflicted grievous bodily harm on Police Sergeant Kate Evans.
Nor could they reach a verdict on the charges of violent disorder against Ms Head, Mr Corner, and Ms Kamio.
All the defendants bar Mr Corner were released on bail ahead of a potential retrial.
The CPS is expected to confirm which charges it will pursue at any retrial at a hearing on February 18.
From left: Jordan Devlin, Leona Kamio, Charlotte Head, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rodgers and Samuel Corner were cleared of aggravated burglary over a break in at Elbit Systems factory in Bristol
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has already urged the CPS to push for a re-trial, saying there was ‘sufficient evidence’ for a realistic prospect of conviction.
Meanwhile Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said the outcome could put officers at risk in the future.
It comes as Mr Parkinson also announced he has ordered staff to pick up the phone rather than engaging in lengthy email chains with police in a bid to speed up charging decisions.
The chief prosecutor has grown frustrated with delays in the judicial process and said there was a ‘generational’ attitude to using the phone.
He has instructed staff they are only allowed to send two ‘action plan’ responses to police about making a case ready for charging before they have to make telephone contact.
He said the previous situation often resulted in delays of around 50 days without further work being done, slowing the judicial process.
‘So what we’re promoting now is what we call real-time case conversations,’ he said.
‘So the ideal is that if you’re in that situation, you haven’t got enough, we’ve got a new charging model, which is a step-by-step guide to the way you should prosecute these cases.
‘And the first thing you ask to do is to make contact with the police and say: Can we have a call?’
He said there was an ‘inevitable delay’ before the idea was implemented, and has been pleased with results.
‘Those of us who are older, we’re used to picking up the phone, it is a generational thing, and others aren’t.’