Six British pro-Palestinian activists were acquitted of aggravated burglary over a 2024 raid on Israeli defense firm Elbit’s factory on Wednesday, with a jury returning no guilty verdicts at all in a blow for prosecutors.
The six were members of the now-banned group Palestine Action, which organized a meticulously planned assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
The raid, which prosecutors said caused about 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) of damage, took place around 10 months into the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas-led terrorists who invaded Israel in October 2023.
Prosecutors had told a jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court at the start of the trial in November that the six were part of a larger group that used a white former prison van to ram their way into the factory and then smash equipment.
The defendants said they were simply motivated to destroy weapons to stop what they described as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and disavowed violence against people, though police bodycam footage broadcast during the trial showed one of them striking an officer with a sledgehammer, resulting in a fractured spine.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
Not guilty verdicts and hung jury
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were all acquitted of aggravated burglary by the jury after more than 36 hours of deliberation.
Illustrative: Activists from the Palestine Action group protest at the gates of a factory owned by Ferranti, a British subsidiary of Elbit Systems, in England on February 1, 2021. (Paul Ellis/AFP)
Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder, while the jury could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio.
The jury could also not reach verdicts on an additional charge of criminal damage.
Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent for hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to agree a verdict on that count.
The defendants hugged in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly after the judge had left the court.
Prosecutors said they wanted time to consider whether to seek a retrial on the counts on which the jury could not reach verdicts.
Palestine Action ban faces court challenge
Britain proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last July, almost a year after the Elbit incident took place, making it a crime to be a member. The ban has separately come under challenge at London’s High Court.
Judge Jeremy Johnson had told the jury the ban was irrelevant to the criminal trial and they must consider the case “on the evidence, not on the basis of what you or anyone else thinks about Palestine Action or the war in Gaza.”
Prosecutor Deanna Heer said the defendants intended to “cause serious damage to property and to use or threaten unlawful violence against anyone who stood in their way, if necessary with the use of weapons.”
Police officers monitor protesters holding a banner during a protest in support of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, in Trafalgar Square, central London, on June 23, 2025. (Henry Nicholls / AFP)
Defend Our Juries, a campaign group organising protests calling for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted, celebrated Wednesday’s verdicts.
“These verdicts put to bed the deceitful accusations from ministers that these brave activists are ‘violent criminals,’” said Defend Our Juries.
Jewish leaders call for retrial
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the largest Jewish organization in the United Kingdom, said in a statement that it was “concerned by the troubling verdicts acquitting members of Palestine Action.” Alleging that the group had targeted “businesses linked to the Jewish community in London and Manchester,” the group called for a retrial on the charges in which the jury did not reach a verdict.
“While it is important to respect the integrity of the judicial process, there is a serious danger of perverse justifications being used as a shield for criminality,” the statement continued. “It cannot be the case that those who commit serious criminal acts, including violent assaults, are able to evade the consequences of their actions.”
In an op-ed published in The Telegraph titled “The Palestine Action acquittals are telling British Jews they have no future here,” former Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard argued that “the message of the case is this: you can smash the spine of a police officer and so long as you are doing it because of ‘Palestine’, you can walk home free.”
“That decision, I believe, may come to be seen as the single most significant case in the history of Anglo-Jewry since 1945,” continued Pollard. “It shows that the game is up. We can no longer rely on the criminal justice system. And when the law is no longer there to protect us, who or what will?”
JTA contributed to this report.
Is accurate Israel coverage important to you?
If so, we have a request.
Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fact-based coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You appreciate our journalism
You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel