Overview
- Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday convicted four activists of criminal damage and found Samuel Corner guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm, while two co-defendants were cleared, with sentencing set for June 12.
- The raid on August 6, 2024 used a van as a battering ram to breach Elbit Systems’ Bristol site, where activists in red jumpsuits smashed equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars and sprayed red paint, causing about £1 million in damage.
- The verdicts followed a retrial after an earlier jury acquitted the group of aggravated burglary but could not reach decisions on criminal damage and the assault charge.
- The government later banned Palestine Action as a terrorist group and London’s High Court ruled that proscription unlawful yet left the ban in place pending the government’s appeal.
- The four convicted defendants remain in custody ahead of sentencing and, according to court reporting, most had already spent about 18 months on remand, with Corner spending 21 months.