Palestine Action activists sentenced as terrorists in UK

Four activists from the Palestine Action group were sentenced to prison terms on Friday, with a judge ruling their actions during a 2024 factory raid constituted a terrorist connection, a first in British legal history for defendants convicted solely of criminal damage. The sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court followed a jury's conviction last month of Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, for breaking into an Elbit Systems UK factory near Bristol and causing an estimated £1.2 million in damage.

Mr Justice Johnson sentenced Corner to seven years and eight months in prison, Head and Kamio to five years each, and Rajwani to four years and eight months. Corner was also convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm for fracturing the spine of police Sergeant Kate Evans with a sledgehammer during the raid on August 6, 2024. The judge said Corner used "extreme and gratuitous force" against an officer acting in the course of her duties.

In a ruling ahead of sentencing, Justice Johnson found the offences had a terrorist connection under sentencing legislation. He stated he was sure the criminal damage involved serious property damage, was designed...