Six Palestine Action activists have been cleared of aggravated burglary charges over a break-in at an Israeli defense firm's UK site. The activists, Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers, and Jordan Devlin, were accused of threatening unlawful violence and using sledgehammers as weapons after a prison van was driven into Elbit Systems' factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024. However, after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, none were convicted of any offense. All six were acquitted of aggravated burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and jurors found Rajwani, Rogers, and Devlin not guilty of violent disorder. The jury deliberated for 36 hours and 34 minutes but could not reach verdicts for charges of criminal damage against any of the six defendants. The defense argued that the security team had used excessive force and pointed to missing CCTV footage. During the trial, one juror asked the judge whether it would count as a lawful excuse if a defendant believed they were performing a life-saving action by destroying weapons used to kill civilians in an illegal genocide. The activists hugged one another in the dock as a dozen of their supporters cheered from the public gallery above. A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, which has organized rallies opposing the ban on Palestine Action, said the verdicts were a huge blow to government ministers who had tried to portray Palestine Action as a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation. Amnesty International also said it showed how disproportionate the proscription decision was.
