Four Palestine Action activists have been found guilty of criminal damage following a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, with one also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer in a case that has been one of the most politically contentious prosecutions in Britain in recent years.
Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were unanimously convicted by a jury on the criminal damage charge following 14 hours of deliberation. Corner was additionally found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent after striking Sergeant Kate Evans with a sledgehammer during the raid. Two other defendants — Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31 — were acquitted of the same criminal damage charge.
The convictions follow a protracted legal saga that began with the group’s August 2024 raid on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Filton, near Bristol. The six activists drove a repurposed prison van through the factory’s security gates and used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones and other equipment, causing damage prosecutors put at around £1 million. During the assault, Sergeant Evans was struck with a sledgehammer, sustaining a fractured spine.
The six defendants were initially acquitted of aggravated burglary in February 2026, after a jury deliberated for more than 36 hours. The Crown Prosecution Service announced it would seek a retrial on the remaining charges before it had even filed the formal paperwork to do so. The retrial began on 13 April.
During the retrial, the defendants were barred under court order from using terms like “genocide” or discussing the target of their direct action protests — restrictions that drew fierce criticism from supporters and civil liberties campaigners who argued the constraints prevented the defendants from mounting an effective defence.
The case has attracted sustained national and international attention, becoming a flashpoint in the broader debate over the boundaries of political protest and the treatment of pro-Palestinian activism in Britain. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025, and the prosecution has drawn scrutiny as a test case for how the government under Sir Keir Starmer is handling demonstrations related to the conflict in Gaza.
Corner’s GBH conviction in particular is likely to draw significant reaction. At the first trial, his defence argued he had swung the sledgehammer instinctively after being sprayed with Pava — a synthetic pepper spray — and hearing a co-defendant scream, insisting he was acting to protect others rather than to harm the officer. Prosecutors rejected that account, describing the force used as “completely disproportionate.”
The verdicts mean Corner now faces a potentially lengthy custodial sentence. Sentencing dates had not been confirmed at the time of publication.
