Activists 'intended to destroy' during Elbit raid

Six Palestine Action activists aimed to "cause as much damage as possible" during a break-in at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm, a trial has heard.

Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22 and Jordan Devlin, 31, are accused of criminal damage in connection with a break-in at an Elbit Systems site near Bristol in August 2024.

Corner faces an additional charge of grievous bodily harm with intent. They deny all charges.

A female police officer allegedly attacked by Corner "screamed in pain" and feared her spine had been damaged, the court heard.

In her opening speech at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the group, dressed in red jumpsuits, used an old prison van to crash into security shutters at the Elbit site before then breaking into the warehouse armed with tools.

"Inside the warehouse, they set about destroying as much property as they could. They used fire extinguishers filled with red paint to spray the walls. They used crowbars and hammers to damage computers, equipment, drones and other products Elbit had manufactured," she said.

"Their role was to cause as much damage as possible until they were forcibly stopped."

The jury was then shown body-worn video footage from two police officers, PC Buxton and PC Adams, who attended the scene.

The footage is said to show Corner approaching another officer, Sgt Kate Evans, and striking her twice in the back with a sledgehammer.

"Samuel Corner went further than simply using his hammer to damage property. When police arrived, he used his to assault them," added Heer.

"Fortunately, she was wearing a stab vest, but she screamed in pain and was immediately terrified that her spine had been damaged."

Sgt Evans is said to have suffered a fractured spine after the incident and was unable to return to work for three months.

"She was offering no threat to him and no threat to anyone else. The prosecution says it was wholly unreasonable for Mr Corner to strike her with that seven-pound sledgehammer across her back in the way he did," said Heer.

The trial continues.

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