Palestine Action defendants acquitted of aggravated burglary over arms factory raid

A UK court has found six Palestine Action activists not guilty of aggravated burglary following a break-in at an Israeli-owned arms factory.

On Wednesday, after more than 36 hours of deliberations, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court acquitted Leona Kamio, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Fatema Rajwani ,21, Zoe Rogers, 22, Jordan Devlin, 31, and Charlotte Head, of charges of aggravated burglary.

All six defendants had denied the charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and violent disorder following the raid at an Elbit Systems' plant near Bristol on 6 August 2024.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged that the six defendants entered the factory with sledgehammers, intending, if needed, to injure and incapacitate security guards.

But the defendants disputed that the sledgehammers were “weapons of offence”, and insisted they were intended only to damage property.

As the verdicts were being read, the defendants held hands and embraced in the dock, as families and supporters cheered and wept.

The jury did not convict defendants Head, Corner and Kamio of violent disorder and acquitted Devlin, Rogers and Rajwani of the same charge. The jury was also hung on charges of criminal damage - despite five of the defendants admitting to destroying weapons and equipment belonging to Elbit Systems during the break-in.

Additionally, jurors did not return a verdict on the charge faced by Corner of grievous bodily harm with intent for striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.

The six defendants have been held for around 18 months on remand- exceeding standard UK custodial time limits.

Five of the defendants were granted bail; Corner was remanded in custody.

Previous applications had been repeatedly refused on the basis that the judge believed there were "substantial grounds" for believing that the defendants would reoffend, as their "mindsets" had not changed.

Mr Justice Johnson said the verdicts did not change that fact, but acknowledged that the defendants had spent a "substantial time on remand", and that the risk could be "appropriately managed through the imposition of bail conditions".

Footage from outside the court appeared to show Head, Kamio, Rajwani, Devlin, and Rogers beaming tearfully and embracing upon release outside the courthouse.

The Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement that it will "carefully consider" whether it seeks retrials, and inform the court within seven days.

Speaking at a press conference outside the court, Leona Kamio's mother, Emma Kamio, said that the last 18 months had been "harrowing".

"I now need to take her home to heal and rebuild our lives. She has lost everything, her home in London and her livelihood, but not her dignity," she said.

Judge: Views on Israel and Gaza 'irrelevant'

Initially, the jury had been directed by Mr Justice Johnson to deliver a unanimous verdict. But on 28 January, he told jurors he would consider majority verdicts on the different counts.

During the trial, which began in November, the jury had also asked if it would count as lawful excuse if they decided that the defendants “ genuinely believed they were performing life-saving actions” and were “morally compelled to destroy weapons”. 

Mr Justice Johnson said it would not, and that the case had to be judged on the evidence alone, not on whether the defendants or the jury believed the defendants were morally justified. In his closing remarks, KC Rajiv Menon, who is representing Head, reminded the jury of this right.

On 4 February, a juror sent another note to the judge, raising concerns about posters put up near the court setting out the principle of jury equity - the right of jurors to acquit on conscience. The juror said it seemed the displays were "trying to influence the jury and their decisions".

Mr Justice Johnson had instructed the jury that their views on Israel's actions in Gaza were "irrelevant," and had directed that the defendants "were not entited to give evidence on their understanding of the background history of the Middle East and the reasons why they believed their conduct was lawful".

In his closing remarks, Menon said that the defendants had been “restricted”  when giving evidence about their knowledge of Elbit Systems’ role in Israel’s war on Gaza. He also said it would be “ridiculous” for jurors to ignore that wider context and its impact on the defendants.

“How are you able to assess any of that if you ignore the wider context of what has been happening in Gaza and the impact that those events have had on these defendants?” Menon said.

“Are you supposed to forget your pasts, your knowledge of the world, your experiences of life, your principles, your values, your wisdom, your common sense, your sense of what is right and wrong and fair and reasonable when you consider the evidence in this case? Of course not."

Missing CCTV footage

Much of the evidence presented during the trial has focused on the CCTV system at the factory, which recorded the raid.

The court heard that footage was missing from several security cameras covering areas of the factory floor where contested interactions between security guards and the defendants took place.

Jurors heard from PC Sarah Grant, a CCTV recovery officer tasked with retrieving the security footage from Elbit Systems, who said that she did not download footage from two cameras because they showed no movement, due to a low frame rate.

During the trial, the court was told that the defendants had also been confronted by security guards in the factory.

Bodycam footage presented to the jury appeared to show security guard Angelo Volante allegedly striking defendant Devlin in the neck with a sledgehammer, knocking him to the ground.

A series of images and a body map detailing Devlin’s injuries, including a black eye, was presented to the jury.

In another clip, Volante is seen brandishing a whip and running towards Devlin, who was unarmed. He then picked up a sledgehammer and swung it at Devlin and co-defendant Rogers.

Footage of Devlin after his arrest shows him alleging that Volante assaulted him.

Addressing reporters outside the court, Devlin's sister, Brogan, said that her heart "sank" when she saw the footage.

"Jordan was attempting to de-escalate the situation when Volante kicked, choked, struck and even attempted to bite my brother," she said. 

In his closing remarks, Menon said that, contrary to the prosecution's argument that the attack on Elbit was "meticulously planned", the defendants had not anticipated that security guards would confront them during the action and that they were "completely out of their depth".