UK court jails Palestinian Action activists on terrorism charges

A UK court has handed jail sentences to four activists from the Palestinian Action group on “terror” charges after they were convicted for a raid on an Israeli arms company.

Judge Jeremy Johnson at Woolwich Crown Court handed down sentences of around 5 to 8 years to the quartet as he branded their August 2024 raid on the Elbit Systems site in Bristol a “terrorist act”.

Last month, four of six activists on trial were convicted of criminal damage. One of the defendants was also found guilty of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

The group said their aim was to “dismantle drones and weaponry” they believed would be used to kill people in the Gaza Strip.

Palestine Action was formally proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation in the UK last July.

Justice Johnson said there was a “terrorism connection” as there was “serious property damage” to Israeli weapons and claimed the defendants carried out the action to influence the British government and intimidate Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.

The Filton 25 Defence Committee NGO said: “The four protestors sentenced today, destroyed over 40 Israeli weapons, including killer drones, which are used in almost every massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. By taking direct action, they saved lives. That is not terrorism, it is a duty. Today’s ruling will be appealed to correct this serious miscarriage of justice.”

Johnson jailed Samuel Corner, 23, for seven years and eight months. He was convicted of having hit police officer Kate Evans twice on the back with a seven pound sledgehammer, leaving her with a fractured spine.

The judge told the former Oxford student that he had used “extreme and gratuitous force against a vulnerable police officer acting in the course of her duties”.

Charlotte Head, 30, who crashed a van through the gates of the site, was sentenced to five years, along with Leona Kamio, also aged 30. Fatema Rajwani was given a prison term of four years and eight months.

About 500 protesters gathered outside the court on Friday in support of the four activists, leading to the arrests of 72 people for holding up signs in support of Palestine Action.

Friday’s ruling came just before the UK’s High Court is due to rule on the government’s appeal against the lifting of the Home Office ban on Palestine Action.

The ban under the 2000 Terrorism Act, which went into force on July 5 last year, made membership of or support for the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Since then some 3,000 people have been arrested at rallies and demonstrations.