The Metropolitan Police say 107 people have been arrested for supporting Palestine Action at a protest outside Woolwich Crown Court, where around 500 had gathered
Police have arrested 107 people for supporting Palestine Action at a protest where four people are being sentenced for a raid on an Israeli-linked private defence company.
The raid by Samuel Corner, 23, Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, caused £1m worth of damage to the Elbit Systems UK factory in Bristol in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
The group were found guilty of criminal damage following a retrial last month and could today be jailed at Woolwich Crown Court, where around 500 people have gathered as a show of support.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed 72 people have been arrested outside the court for supporting Palestine Action, with all of them now in police custody.
Palestine Action was proscribed a terrorist organisation under a Government proscription order in July last year. But the move was declared unlawful by the High Court in February this year.
The Met said it remained a criminal offence to show support for the group despite the ban being declared unlawful. The Court of Appeal will decide on Monday whether to uphold that ruling.
“We must enforce the law as it is at the time, not as it might be at a future date. We must do that consistently and without fear or favour,” the force said.
Several protesters were detained by officers this afternoon, including one middle-aged man with a sign pledging support for Palestine Action, who was carried into the back of a police van.
A number of demonstrators were seen holding signs saying: “Saving lives is not terrorism, I support Palestine Action”.
Prosecutors said the group who raided the Bristol factory in 2024 used a prison van as a “battering ram” to get inside Elbit Systems UK.
Dressed in red boiler suits and armed with sledgehammers, the four sprayed red paint from fire extinguishers and used crowbars and hammers to break computers, drones and other equipment.
One police officer, sergeant Kate Evans, was left with a fractured spine after being hit by Corner, who claimed he had been trying to protect another activist who he heard screaming.
Head, Kamio and Rajwani were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court last week of criminal damage, while Corner was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.