Sergeant feared sledgehammer had 'shattered' spine

A police sergeant thought her spine had "shattered" and she was "paralysed" when a Palestine Action activist hit her back with a sledgehammer, a trial has heard.

Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin are on trial accused of breaking into a UK site of Israel-based defence firm Elbit Systems near Bristol in August 2024, before destroying property and clashing with security and police.

Prosecutors say Corner hit Sgt Kate Evans with a sledgehammer as she was on her knees trying to arrest Rogers.

"It was a thud and it just dispersed, I felt it in my back, it dispersed across my whole body, down my legs, everywhere," Evans told Woolwich Crown Court.

She added: "I thought my spine could have been shattered from the impact, I didn't know if I could move, whether I was paralysed at the time."

Her colleague PC Peter Adams told the court Corner hit Evans with a "considerable amount of force".

Adams said: "I heard her scream in pain from the impact.

"He [Corner] was clearly a threat at that time."

PC Aaron Buxton said he saw Corner raise the sledgehammer over his shoulder and strike Evans, who made an "immediate noise of pain".

Buxton told jurors that prior to that, Corner had swung the sledgehammer towards him "multiple times" as he was on the floor struggling with Devlin.

The officer told of feeling "significant pain" down his right calf and said he was left feeling "terrified".

The court heard Evans suffered a fractured spine, which she said caused her difficulty sleeping and exercising, and meant she was unable to work for three months.

The court previously heard that in the early hours of 6 August, the six defendants, who were dressed in red jumpsuits, crashed into shutters outside the factory in a prison van, which was driven by Head and was used "as a battering ram".

Once inside, the jury was told they used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers and drones and sprayed the walls and floor with red paint using fire extinguishers.

Prosecutors say the raid was "carefully planned", with documents found on an encrypted site revealing its purpose was to "shut Elbit down", adding "this is our primary objective as Palestine Action".

Head, 30, Corner, 23, Kamio, 30, Rajwani, 21, Rogers, 22, and Devlin, 31, all deny criminal damage.

Corner faces a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Evans, which he denies.

The trial continues.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.