Four Palestine Action activists convicted over damage at UK Elbit site

LONDON: A jury in Britain on Tuesday found four Palestine Action activists guilty of criminal damage over a 2024 break-in at the UK premises of Israeli defence company Elbit Systems, marking the first convictions in the long-running and closely watched case.

The verdict followed a retrial after a separate jury in February acquitted the four activists and two others of aggravated burglary, but was unable to reach decisions on criminal damage and several additional charges involving some of the six defendants.

Prosecutors had accused the group of entering the Elbit site in Bristol, in western England, in August 2024 and causing damage exceeding $1.35 million.

According to Elbit Systems' website, the company is a defence technology firm employing around 20,000 people and generating revenues of $2 billion.

Retrial verdicts

After more than 14 hours of deliberations, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London convicted Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani of damaging Elbit equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars during the incident.

By a majority of 11 to one, the jury also found Corner guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm. However, the 23-year-old was acquitted of the more serious allegation of grievous bodily harm with intent.

The jury found Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, who had already been cleared in February of aggravated burglary, not guilty in the latest proceedings.

What the court heard

The retrial heard that the activists were travelling in a decommissioned prison van, which Head, 30, drove into shutters at the Elbit facility in the early hours of August 6, 2024.

The court was told that the four activists who were later convicted were dressed in red boilersuits and began smashing equipment after entering the site, before confrontations followed with security guards and police.

The activists said their aim was to dismantle drones and weaponry that they believed would be used to kill people.

The case has drawn significant attention in Britain, with Tuesday's ruling representing the first convictions secured in the matter after the earlier mixed outcome at trial.

The February proceedings had resulted in acquittals on aggravated burglary for the four activists convicted on Tuesday as well as Rogers and Devlin, but left unresolved the criminal damage allegations and some other counts against certain defendants, leading to the retrial that concluded with the latest verdicts.

The convictions relate specifically to the damage caused during the raid on the Bristol premises of Elbit Systems, which prosecutors said took place in August 2024 and involved the use of tools including sledgehammers and crowbars.