FOUR PALESTINE ACTION ACTIVISTS JAILED OVER BRISTOL FACTORY RAID

Four Palestine Action activists have been imprisoned following convictions for criminal damage at an Elbit Systems facility near Bristol in August 2024. Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Rajwani broke into the factory and caused £1.2m in damage. The case marks the first time criminal damage convictions have been classified as connected to terrorism. Mr Justice Johnson presided over the sentencing at a retrial.

Corner received seven years and eight months in prison, including a conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant. Head was sentenced to five years, Kamio to five years, and Rajwani to four years and eight months. The judge found Corner used "extreme and gratuitous force" without justification and noted that two activists livestreamed the raid and posted footage to social media to "glorify criminality and vigilantism". Corner, a former Oxford student, fractured Sergeant Kate Evans' spine with a sledgehammer during the raid.

All four offenders will serve an additional one year on licence in the community following their prison terms and will not qualify for early release provisions. The Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when determining their eventual release. Sergeant Evans provided an impact statement revealing ongoing medical treatment and that she had been forced to relinquish her rank due to difficulties following the attack.