Four convicted over Filton factory raid

The convicted activists are Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21. Corner was also found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm after striking Sgt Kate Evans twice with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine, but was cleared of the more serious offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Two other activists, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, charged with criminal damage, were found not guilty.

The jury at Woolwich Crown Court deliberated for more than 14 hours before reaching the verdicts. The trial was a retrial after the first jury failed to reach verdicts on all counts, and none of the defendants were convicted of any offence after that initial trial, which concluded in January. The activists broke into the Elbit Systems factory in the early hours of August 6, 2024.

According to Woolwich Crown Court, Charlotte Head was driving a decommissioned prison van used as a 'battering ram' to crash into security shutters. The group, wearing red boilersuits, then set about destroying property inside. Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC described the raid as meticulously organised and aimed at causing as much damage as possible and obtaining information about the company.

She described how the activists used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones, and other equipment, and used fire extinguishers to spray red paint. The group caused an estimated £1 million of damage and clashed with security guards and police. According to the group, they aimed to destroy what they believed were combat drones and other military equipment that would be used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza, though there has been no evidence in the case as to what the factory produced.

The trial was a retrial after the first jury failed to reach verdicts on all counts. At the retrial, Head and four co-defendants dispensed with their barristers just before closing speeches and delivered the addresses themselves. According to The Guardian, Charlotte Head described that after some court decisions, she no longer felt her barrister was permitted to represent her in a way that did them all justice.

Each defendant who addressed the jury directly said they stood by their actions, insisting the crime was justified, and urged jurors to clear them of criminal damage. com, Samuel Corner described that he would never want to seriously hurt anyone and denied using violence against people during the raid was planned. He also described that it seemed reasonable to do something after he heard one of his fellow activists screaming and believed they were being hurt by security guards.

com, Zoe Rogers described her actions as the best thing she had ever done, saying there was a good chance innocent lives were saved, and she would never be ashamed of being on trial or facing prison. Avon and Somerset Police Federation chairman Tom Gent described Corner's actions as 'pure evil', saying 'fracturing a brave police officer's spine with a sledgehammer is not protesting a cause'. He added: 'This wasn't protest.

' A leading human rights barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, is facing contempt of court proceedings for allegedly defying a judge's orders during the trial. According to the report, Menon is accused of breaching the judge's directions while giving his closing speech in the trial of six people related to the 2024 direct action protest at the Elbit Systems factory. The contempt proceedings are believed to be the first brought against a barrister in respect of a jury speech in living memory, possibly ever.

A decision by the court of appeal on whether the contempt proceedings should go ahead is pending after lawyers for Menon challenged the case against him. Before the first trial, Mr Justice Johnson ruled that Head and her co-defendants could not argue they had a 'lawful excuse' because of the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza. The judge directed that lawyers were not permitted in their closing speeches to invite the jury to disregard the court's rulings of law, and he forbade them from inviting the jury to apply the principle of jury equity or informing the jury of it.

During his closing speech, Menon highlighted Bushell's case from 1670 which established the independence of the jury, and read out the inscription of a plaque at the Old Bailey commemorating the case, stating it established the right of juries to give their verdict according to their convictions. Menon said on six occasions that the trial judge could not direct the jury to convict the defendants. Mr Justice Johnson said the effect of Menon's speech was to invite the jury to disregard his directions to put views of the Middle East and the war in Gaza, and emotion, to one side.

After Head and three others were convicted of criminal damage, Menon was reengaged and represented her and one co-defendant in an unsuccessful bail attempt before sentencing. Menon previously worked on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the inquests of victims of the Hillsborough disaster and the Grenfell Tower inquiry. After the second jury's verdicts, the proceedings against Menon can be reported.

Head, Corner, Kamio and Rajwani were denied bail and remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on 12 June. The specific products manufactured at the Elbit Systems factory in Filton remain unclear, and it is not known whether any were directly linked to military operations in Gaza. The exact nature of the directions Menon allegedly breached and the specific statements considered contempt have not been detailed.

The current condition and prognosis of Sgt Kate Evans have not been confirmed.