Four activists face Elbit raid sentencing with terror link

Four Palestine Action activists face sentencing next month on criminal damage convictions stemming from a nighttime raid on an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol, with a judge ruling pretrial that the charges carry a terrorist connection.

Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were found guilty by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court last week of criminal damage related to the August 6, 2024, incident. Corner was also convicted by an 11-to-1 majority of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent on Police Sergeant Kate Evans, whose spine he fractured during clashes. Two other defendants, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were acquitted of criminal damage. The group, part of what supporters call the Filton 24, had rammed the site using an old prison van, wielded sledgehammers and crowbars, damaged drones and computers estimated at 1 million pounds in value, and sprayed red paint from fire extinguishers while wearing red boilersuits. They filmed the action.

The convictions followed a retrial after an earlier jury cleared all six of aggravated burglary and three of violent disorder, with prosecutors dropping remaining violent disorder...