Palestine Action activists convicted in UK for break-in at Israeli defense factory

LONDON — Four Palestine Action activists were convicted Tuesday of breaking into an Israeli defense factory in the U.K. and smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars.

Jurors in Woolwich Crown Court found Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani guilty of criminal damage. They face sentencing June 12.

The attack was one of the events that led the government to ban the group as a terrorist organization. London’s High Court said that decision was unlawful, but has kept the ban in place while the government appeals.

The group said they wanted to dismantle drones and weaponry they believed would be used to kill people.

Head was behind the wheel of a van that crashed through the gates of the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol on Aug. 6, 2024.

The four activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before ending up in a fight with security guards and police that left one officer with a broken back.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer said the attack was “meticulously organized” to cause maximum damage and get information about the company. The raid caused an estimated 1 million pounds ($1.36 million) in damage.

Corner was also convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm for striking police Sgt. Kate Evans twice in the back with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine.

Two others, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were acquitted of criminal damage.

The convictions followed a previous trial in which jurors acquitted the six of aggravated burglary but could not reach verdicts on criminal damage charges.