LONDON — In a judgment delivered this Friday, a London magistrate sentenced four members of Palestine Action to prison terms ranging from four years and eight months to seven years and eight months. The convictions stem from their participation in a raid on an Israeli defence contractor situated in the United Kingdom, during which they damaged equipment and sought to halt the manufacture of weapons targeted for use in Gaza.
The intrusion at Elbit Systems caused £1.2 million ($1.6 million) in damage and escalated into a confrontation with security personnel and law enforcement, resulting in a police officer sustaining a fractured spine.
Chief Justice Jeremy Johnson described the acts as exceeding ordinary criminal damage, noting that the perpetrators intended to impede the company’s operations and exert pressure on the British government. He characterised the conduct as “terrorist” in nature due to its political objectives.
Johnson said, “Each defendant was involved in high‑level actions with the shared aim of shutting down Elbit and ending what they regarded as British complicity in Israeli war crimes. The operation sought to influence the UK government and intimidate a segment of the public, advancing an ideological cause.”
The sentences were: Samuel Corner, aged 23, received seven years and eight months; Charlotte Head and Leona Kamio, both 30, were each sentenced to five years; and Fatema Rajwani, 21, received four years and eight months.
The 2024 attack on the Bristol factory contributed to the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation last year, a move that led to the arrest of over 1,600 protestors between July and September. The High Court has ruled that the ban was unlawful, but it remains in effect pending an appeal’s outcome scheduled for Monday.
While the sentencing proceeded at Woolwich Crown Court, more than a hundred Palestine Action supporters were detained outside the courthouse in southeast London.
All four defendants had been convicted of criminal damage earlier that year. On August 6, 2024, Head breached the Elbit Systems gates in a van, and the activists, wearing red jumpsuits, used sledgehammers and crowbars to demolish equipment, ostensibly to stop the production of drones they believed would kill civilians in the Middle East.
In the ensuing clash, Corner struck police Sergeant Kate Evans twice on the back with a 7‑lb (3.2 kg) sledgehammer, fracturing her spine. He was also convicted of grievous bodily harm.
Evans, still recuperating, reported receiving harassing emails that called her a supporter of “the Zionist occupation of Britain,” and described ongoing emotional distress and sleep disturbances.
The court’s determination that the offence was terror‑related imposes that each convict serve at least two‑thirds of their sentence and that release requires Parole Board approval.
Amnesty International criticised the decision, warning that treating criminal damage as terrorism could set a dangerous precedent and indicating that the sentence represents a disproportionate response to protest activity.
The convictions followed a prior trial in which jurors acquitted six defendants of aggravated burglary and violent disorder but failed to reach verdicts on criminal damage. Two additional defendants were acquitted at a retrial.
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