Breaking
CN日本關東地區規模5.9地震 無海嘯危險INSoftware Engineer, 31, Allegedly Beaten to Death by Wife's Family in Delhi Over Matrimonial DisputeTRAlleged Helicopter Crashed in Giresun - Searches ContinueRULavrov: The West is inciting Zelensky against Russia, sanctioning methods of causing harm to citizensTRUS Ambassador Barrack: 'Israelis Provoked the Turks'INTLSouth Korea launches first commercial Arctic container ship voyage to EuropeCN第二届世界人形机器人运动会在北京国家速滑馆开幕DEZiehl-Abegg: Fan production in Vietnam for US AI infrastructureVNFrench tourist dies after walking in a 50°C hot desertKRBeijing, China opens the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games… 666 teams from 16 countries participateCN日本關東地區規模5.9地震 無海嘯危險INSoftware Engineer, 31, Allegedly Beaten to Death by Wife's Family in Delhi Over Matrimonial DisputeTRAlleged Helicopter Crashed in Giresun - Searches ContinueRULavrov: The West is inciting Zelensky against Russia, sanctioning methods of causing harm to citizensTRUS Ambassador Barrack: 'Israelis Provoked the Turks'INTLSouth Korea launches first commercial Arctic container ship voyage to EuropeCN第二届世界人形机器人运动会在北京国家速滑馆开幕DEZiehl-Abegg: Fan production in Vietnam for US AI infrastructureVNFrench tourist dies after walking in a 50°C hot desertKRBeijing, China opens the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games… 666 teams from 16 countries participate
NewsgatherNewsgather
All StoriesWorldSportsFinanceTechScience
Sign In
All StoriesWorldSportsFinanceTechScienceHealthCultureClimatePoliticsSpace
NewsgatherNewsgather

Real-time global news intelligence. Curated by humans, powered by data.

Sections

All StoriesWorldSportsFinanceTechScience

More

HealthCultureClimatePoliticsSpace

Company

AboutEditorial StandardsAdvertisingCareersPressContact

©️ 2026 Newsgather. A product by All Software 24. All rights reserved.

Privacy PolicyCookie PolicyImprintTerms of UseContent and Editorial PolicyRemoval RequestAdvertising PolicyContact
Back|Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid
Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid
Developing
BBC UK News·6/13/2026·Crime·4 min read·🇬🇧United Kingdom

Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid

Quick Look

  • Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed for causing £1.2m of damage at an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol.
  • Samuel Corner received the longest sentence for criminal damage and assaulting a police sergeant.
  • The case is believed to be the first where criminal damage convictions are linked to terrorism.

AI-generated summary

Font size

Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm.

Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were convicted of criminal damage in a retrial after they broke into the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.

Corner was jailed for seven years and eight months for criminal damage and inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant. The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said Corner had no justification for the "extreme and gratuitous force" used.

The case is believed to be the first time that convictions for criminal damage have been classified as being connected to terrorism.

The judge said their actions had aimed to influence the government.

Head, who drove the prison van into the compound, was sentenced to five years in prison, Kamio was also handed a five-year jail term, and Rajwani received a prison sentence of four years and eight months.

The offenders will not qualify for early release from prison provisions and the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free.

All four will also serve an additional one year on a licence in the community at the end of their terms.

Johnson said two of the activists had livestreamed the raid and posted the footage to social media, as part of an effort to "glorify criminality and vigilantism".

He added that they had been "reckless" about who would be injured and had been heavily involved in organising the raid with the right of veto over each part of the plan.

Corner, a former Oxford student, was also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm after he fractured Sgt Kate Evans' spine with a sledgehammer in the raid.

Sgt Evans held back tears as she read an impact statement to the court which revealed she was still receiving medical treatment and had been forced to give up her rank after struggling in the aftermath of the attack.

"The emotional impact of this incident has been profound and ongoing.

"I experience disturbed sleep, often waking in a panicked state or after distressing dreams," she said.

She also told the court that Corner showed "no sign of shock or regret" after he hit her and that he only attempted to "justify his actions with baseless and offensive claims that [she] was complicit in genocide".

In a statement released after sentencing, Avon and Somerset Police's Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: "What happened that night changed the life of one of our officers. For Sgt Evans, this has been deeply personal, painful and lasting.

"It is important everyone realises that behind every uniform is an ordinary person.

"Someone with a family, with responsibilities, and a life beyond the job."

Rajiv Menon KC, defending barrister for Head and leading for all the defendants, previously told the court the prosecution's application for the case to have a terrorist connection "undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and amounts to chilling and creeping authoritarianism".

"It would be wholly wrong and unfair for this court to reach any conclusions as to the reasons or underlying motivations of the defendants in doing what they did given the prosecution applied for that evidence to be excluded," he said.

Menon pointed out that Head had been cleared of aggravated burglary during a first trial of the case, while prosecutors then dropped a charge of violent disorder before a second trial went ahead only on the criminal damage charge.

The barrister said it would be unprecedented for a defendant to be sentenced on the basis of a terrorist connection when found guilty of a non-violent offence.

Menon added that it would be "laughable" if any Palestine Action activist actually believed direct action would achieve the group's stated aim to "shut Elbit down".

He said activists in the raid on the Elbit Systems factory wanted to destroy equipment they believed would be sent to Israel and then used against Palestinians.

Deanna Heer KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said that the criminal damage at the Elbit factory had a "terrorism connection".

Under the law, anyone guilty of a standard offence can receive a longer sentence if a court rules that the manner in which the crime was committed could be said to meet the definition of terrorism.

The UK's definition of terrorism encompasses both acts of serious violence or serious damage to property which a court is sure were carried out to influence a government or a section of the public to advance a particular ideological cause.

Outside the court earlier, about 500 protesters gathered in a demonstration to support Palestine Action.

The Metropolitan Police said 107 people were arrested and taken to custody.

Shortly after Johnson finished his remarks, police issued a dispersal order with instructions for the protesters to leave the area by 19:25 BST.

A few hundred remained and some laid down in the road to block a prison van believed to be carrying the defendants.

Dozens of police officers stood around the van as protesters banged on the side of the vehicle and tried to open the door.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

Related Topics

Topics
This article was originally published by BBC UK News.

Quick Look

  • Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed for causing £1.2m of damage at an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol.
  • Samuel Corner received the longest sentence for criminal damage and assaulting a police sergeant.
  • The case is believed to be the first where criminal damage convictions are linked to terrorism.

AI-generated summary

Story signals

News tone
Sensitive
News value
High
Global impact
National
Urgency
Developing
Follow-up likelihood
Likely
Relevance window
Weeks

Source & Reliability

Source
BBC UK News
Published
6/13/2026
Last updated
6/13/2026

Related Stories

More on this topic
Former boxing world champion Zolani Tete shot dead in South Africa
BREAKING·8 hours ago

Former boxing world champion Zolani Tete shot dead in South Africa

Former boxing world champion Zolani Tete was shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, South Africa, by two masked gunmen. A 27-year-old woman was also wounded in the attack. Police have launched an investigation into the motive behind the killing.

Guardian Sport
2 min read
Multiple fatalities in police vehicle collision near Middlesbrough
BREAKING·8 hours ago

Multiple fatalities in police vehicle collision near Middlesbrough

Multiple people died in a collision between a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough, early Saturday. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the incident following a police pursuit.

Guardian UK
2 min read
Man arrested after Scottish ferry evacuated following bomb threat
Crime·10 hours ago

Man arrested after Scottish ferry evacuated following bomb threat

A 23-year-old man was arrested after 329 passengers were evacuated from a CalMac ferry in Ardrossan following a bomb threat made after he was rescued from the sea.

BBC UK News
1 min read
Lindsay Clancy trial: Psychiatrist says mum experienced 'command hallucination'
Developing·10 hours ago

Lindsay Clancy trial: Psychiatrist says mum experienced 'command hallucination'

Forensic psychiatrist Phillip Resnick testified in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial that the Massachusetts mother experienced a command hallucination and postpartum psychosis when she killed her three children in January 2023.

BBC World
2 min read
Murder investigation launched after human bones found in west London park
Developing·11 hours ago

Murder investigation launched after human bones found in west London park

A murder investigation has been launched after human bones belonging to a woman aged 25 to 45 were discovered at Bedfont Pits in west London following a wildfire.

BBC UK News
1 min read
Firebombs thrown at supercars outside Birmingham wedding venue
Developing·11 hours ago

Firebombs thrown at supercars outside Birmingham wedding venue

Firebombs were thrown at supercars outside the Royal Shalimar wedding venue in Birmingham, setting two vehicles alight and prompting guests to flee.

Guardian UK
1 min read
More on this topic
Palestine Action
Elbit Systems
criminal damage
Palestine Action
Elbit Systems
criminal damage
terrorism
activists
Bristol
police assault
Palestine Action
Palestine Action