Four activists from the group Palestine Action have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a judge ruled their attack on an Israeli arms factory in the UK had a “terrorist connection”. Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, were each jailed for five years, Fatema Rajwani, 21, received four years and eight months, and Samuel Corner, 23, was sentenced to seven years and eight months for criminal damage and grievous bodily harm.
The sentences were handed down at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday following a break-in at the Elbit Systems UK site in Gloucestershire in 2024. The group caused £1.2 million in damage, including to 41 military assets such as drones. Corner struck Sergeant Kate Evans with a sledgehammer, leaving her with lasting physical and psychological injuries.
Mr Justice Johnson found that the offences were “designed to intimidate the UK government and a section of the public” and were for advancing a political or ideological cause. The terrorist connection means the four must serve at least two-thirds of their sentences and will be subject to 15 years of terrorist notification requirements.
Defence lawyers argued that applying terrorism sentencing powers to non-violent criminal damage was unprecedented and authoritarian. Tom Wainwright KC, representing Corner, said it would label historical protest movements such as the suffragettes as terrorists. Mira Hammad KC noted that the Crown had not charged the defendants with terrorism offences, suggesting a deliberate decision to avoid a jury trial on that issue.
Outside the court, around 500 protesters gathered, with some holding placards reading “Saving lives is not terrorism”. More than 100 people were arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action, which is proscribed under UK law. The judge said Corner showed no remorse and used “extreme and gratuitous force” against a vulnerable police officer.
