Four pro-Palestine activists have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a judge ruled that their attack on an Israeli arms factory in Gloucestershire had a “terrorist connection”. Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were jailed for criminal damage, while Samuel Corner, 23, received a longer sentence for also injuring a police officer. The group caused £1.2m of damage, including to 41 military assets, during a break-in at the Elbit Systems UK site in 2024.
Mr Justice Johnson imposed sentences of five years for Head and Kamio, four years and eight months for Rajwani, and seven years and eight months for Corner, who struck Sgt Kate Evans with a sledgehammer. Each will serve at least two-thirds of their term and face 15 years of terrorist notification requirements. The judge described the raid as a “carefully planned and highly sophisticated attack” designed to intimidate the UK government and Elbit employees.
Defence lawyers argued that the terrorist finding was unprecedented for a non-violent offence and could set a dangerous precedent. Rajiv Menon KC, representing Head, called it “chilling, creeping authoritarianism”. Tom Wainwright KC, for Corner, said the ruling would label suffragettes and Greenham Common protesters as terrorists. The judge rejected these arguments, stating the offence was for a political cause.
Outside Woolwich Crown 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 remains a proscribed organisation.
