A Palestine Action activist who hit a police officer on the back with a sledgehammer said it ‘seemed reasonable to do something’ at the time, a court has heard.
Samuel Corner told his trial he brought the tool down on Sergeant Kate Evans after he heard ‘someone screaming’ and feared they were being injured by security guards during a raid at Israel-based defence firm Elbit Systems’ site, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024.
On Thursday, Woolwich Crown Court heard Corner had hit the officer after being sprayed with Pava spray, without shouting a warning and the officer had not been able to see him coming.
When asked if he thought striking Sergeant Evans was over the top, the 23-year-old admitted it would have been had he considered the consequences.
Of the officer, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC asked the defendant: ‘She posed no threat to you at all, did she?’
‘Well no, not to me,’ Corner said.
The prosecutor continued: ‘Did you hit her because you thought she was a security guard and she was complicit with Elbit?’
Samuel Corner said it was ‘reasonable’ to hit a police officer with a sledgehammer after thinking they were hurting a friend
‘No,’ he replied.
‘Did you think, Mr Corner, that she was fair game?’ she asked.
‘No,’ the defendant responded.
The prosecutor asked: ‘Do you agree that, whatever you may have thought, it was completely unreasonable to hit Sgt Evans with a sledgehammer?’
‘I mean it seemed reasonable to do something and I had to act quickly,’ Corner responded.
‘Do you think it was completely unreasonable, over the top, to hit Sgt Evans on the back with a sledgehammer?’ Ms Heer asked.
‘Yes, if I’d thought about what that was going to do, then yes,’ the defendant said.
Tom Wainwright, defending, asked: ‘The prosecution’s case is that your actions were unreasonable, what do you say to that?’
At an earlier hearing, Sergeant Kate Evans told jurors she believed her spine could have been ‘shattered’ and feared she may have been ‘paralysed’ after being hit by the activist
‘I disagree,’ Corner replied.
Jurors have heard Corner believed one of his female friends was being ‘seriously hurt’ and he had acted to ‘protect’ her.
The defendant said he now accepted Sgt Evans was not injuring anyone before he struck her.
Corner previously told the court he ‘would never want to seriously hurt anyone’, and denied it was part of a plan to use violence against people during the raid.
At an earlier hearing, Sgt Evans told jurors she believed her spine could have been ‘shattered’ and feared she may have been ‘paralysed’ after being hit by the activist.
Alongside Corner, Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are on trial accused of criminal damage over the incident.
Corner, a former linguistics and philosophy student at Oxford University, denies further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Sgt Evans.
In a character reference read to jurors by Mr Wainwright, Corner’s grandfather described him as a ‘gentle soul’ who ‘cares deeply about the injustices in the world’ and ‘finds any form of violence abhorrent’.
On Thursday afternoon, Leona Kamio began her evidence and told the court there had been no plan to do anything to the Elbit’s security guards other than shout and training provided by Palestine Action on direct action did not include anything about the use of violence.
She said she felt ‘terrified’ and ‘very nervous’ before the incident and described Elbit as a ‘very evil company.’
Jurors heard the 30-year-old was a nursery teacher at a forest school at the time of the break in and had previously been signed to Island Records as part of the band Salen.
‘I still felt like what we were doing was necessary, like I came here to do something, to stop people from suffering,’ she added.
Supporters outside Woolwich Crown Court, London, where Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani and Zoe Rogers are facing a retrial
‘Working with children, I would have put one of their lives before any amount of property and me being tired or anxious doesn’t equate to children being blown up.’
Kamio, who is originally from Swansea in Wales and said she was tasered during the incident, described one of the defence company’s security guards as seemingly ‘up for a fight’ and ‘psychotic.’
She added of the guards: ‘I thought maybe they’d been told to teach us a lesson because we were protesting for Palestine.’
The trial has heard the defendants crashed into shutters outside the factory in a prison van, which was driven by Head and used ‘as a battering ram’.
Once inside, they used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones and other equipment, and sprayed the walls and floor with red paint using fire extinguishers, the court heard.
The defendants deny all charges and the trial continues.
On Thursday, the public gallery was almost full with supporters of the defendants, some of whom wore keffiyeh scarves.
Three people were arrested outside the court after conditions were put on a protest due to take place during the hearing, including not to use amplified sound equipment for music or speech and to stay within a specified area, the Metropolitan Police said.
A spokesperson for the force said officers had attended the court that morning ahead of the demonstration, adding: ‘A 71-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of breaching these conditions.
‘A 25-year-old man was further arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and inciting racial hatred.
‘They remain in custody as inquiries continue.’