Six Palestine Action protesters were cleared of aggravated burglary over a break-in at a UK subsidiary of an Israeli defence firm yesterday.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were also charged with criminal damage and violent disorder but the jury reached partial or no verdicts.
The alleged raid targeted the Elbit Systems building near Bristol in the early hours of 6 August 2024.
The six defendants hugged in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly after the judge had left the court.
The jury at Woolwich Crown Court had been deliberating for more than 36 hours after a trial that began in November 2025.
Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder. No verdict was reached for charges of violent disorder for Head, Corner and Kamio.
Corner was accused of causing grievous bodily harm with intent by striking police sergeant Kate Evans in her back with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on this charge. Prosecutors must now decide whether to ask the judge for a second trial of the defendants on the unresolved charges.
Elbit Systems UK is involved in the manufacture and supply of weapons to the Israeli military – a claim the company strongly denies.
The group denied any intention to be violent, despite allegations from prosecutors that they had carried in sledgehammers to fight security guards.
During the two-month trial, the court heard that Head, a charity worker, drove a prison van into the site’s perimeter fence before the vehicle was used as a ‘battering ram’ to get inside the factory.
In what Head described as ‘the craziest 20 minutes’ of her life, the six defendants carried out their action before being arrested by police.
Lisa Minerva Luxx, a representative of the Filton24 Defence Committee said: ‘Today’s significant victory delivered by the jury has vindicated the six defendants, who are the first six on trial from the Filton 24.
‘There are still 18 more defendants imprisoned across the UK in connection with this case. They are being held under joint enterprise which means they each have the same three charges whether they are accused of being present at the action or not.
‘Now that the first six have been liberated of the most serious charge, Aggravated Burglary, and none were convicted of a single offence, it follows that the rest must immediately have this charge dropped against them, and be granted bail.
‘This was a trial by media. Yvette Cooper and Keir Starmer took evidence in this case out of context and broadcast it on televisions and tabloids across the country in order to justify proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, despite forewarning that this will prejudice the trial.’
Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE, said: ‘This acquittal is a huge victory for the movement and a powerful affirmation of jury independence and moral courage in the face of extraordinary political pressure.’
