Palestine Action activists cleared of aggravated burglary at Israeli defence firm site

Six Palestine Action activists have been cleared of committing aggravated burglary over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site.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 6 August 2024.But after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, south London, none were convicted of any offence.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.Additionally, no verdict was reached in the allegation that Corner, 23, inflicted grievous bodily harm on police sergeant Kate Evans, or on the charges of violent disorder against Head, Corner and Kamio.The activists hugged one another in the dock as a dozen of their supporters cheered from the public gallery above.