Four activists from the group Palestine Action have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a judge ruled their actions at 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, for four years and eight months, and Samuel Corner, 23, for seven years and eight months, for their roles in a 2024 break-in at the Elbit Systems UK site in Gloucestershire.
The court heard the raid caused £1.2 million in damage, including to 41 military assets such as drones. Mr Justice Johnson described the operation as a “carefully planned and highly sophisticated attack” and said the damage was “designed to intimidate the UK government and a section of the public” for a political or ideological cause. The finding under section 69 of the Sentencing Act 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 the terrorism designation was unprecedented for a non-violent offence and risked “creeping authoritarianism”. Tom Wainwright KC, representing Corner, said it would also label suffragettes and Greenham Common protesters as terrorists. Corner was additionally convicted of grievous bodily harm without intent for striking police officer Sgt Kate Evans with a sledgehammer, causing her lasting physical and psychological harm.
Outside Woolwich crown court, around 500 protesters gathered, with some holding placards reading “Saving lives is not terrorism. I support Palestine Action”. More than 100 people were arrested for allegedly supporting the group, which remains proscribed under UK terrorism laws.
