Palestine Action activist struck police officer with sledgehammer, trial told
Court hears Palestine Action activists used van as battering ram, with officer seriously injured in violent Elbit site raid
A police officer who tried to stop a Palestine Action raid at the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm suffered a fracture to her spine after being struck with a sledgehammer, a court heard.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are all charged with criminal damage after the incident at the Elbit Systems site near Bristol on 6 August 2024.
Corner faces a further count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Police Sergeant Kate Evans.
At Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the six defendants broke into the factory, where they destroyed property and clashed with security guards and police.
The court heard the defendants crashed into shutters outside the factory in a prison van, which was driven by Head and used “as a battering ram”.
Once inside, they used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers and drones, and other equipment, and sprayed the walls and floor with red paint using fire extinguishers, the court heard.
Ms Heer said two security guards on the premises, Patrick Luke and Angelo Volante, attempted to intervene but were confronted by the group.
“(Devlin) tried to get Mr Volante to leave, saying it wasn’t worth it – the factory would not be there tomorrow, no doubt because they were planning to destroy it,” she said.
“Mr Volante did not immediately leave, he remained in the warehouse, surrounded… Eventually, a fire extinguisher was sprayed at him, forcing him back into a loading bay.”
The court heard the defendants shouted at Mr Luke to “f*** off and leave”. As he walked away, Corner swung a sledgehammer towards him, “narrowly missing him”, Ms Heer said.
Once police arrived, struggles ensued as the activists resisted arrest, she said, with Sergeant Evans suffering a fracture to her spine after Corner struck her with a sledgehammer.
Ms Heer said: “As Police Sergeant Evans was on all fours facing away from him and trying to detain Zoe Rodgers… Samuel Corner approached Sergeant Evans from behind.
“He raised his sledgehammer over his head and brought it down forcefully over her back. Having hit her once, he raised it again and hit her with it a second time.”
Sergeant Evans, who was wearing a stab vest, which Ms Heer said may have absorbed some impact, “screamed in pain”, and could not get up.
The officer subsequently suffered “constant pain”, was unable to return to work for three months and had significantly limited mobility, Ms Heer said.
The court heard footage filmed at the incident on GoPro cameras worn by the activists was later circulated online.
In one clip, Rajwani and Head could be seen detained in the factory, laughing and saying, “you’ve been Pal Actioned”, Ms Heer said.
The court heard the raid was “carefully planned”, with documents found on an encrypted site revealing its purpose was to “shut Elbit down, this is our primary objective as Palestine Action. We can do that by sticking together and ensuring its destruction with our brain and muscle”.
In advance of the raid, Head arranged to purchase a prison van and rent an Airbnb to use as a rendezvous point, while Rogers accessed documents containing advice from Palestine Action on preparing for arrest and prison, Ms Heer said.
Kamio was said to have researched unisex boiler suits in the month before the alleged attack and texted her mother to explain she was planning to drive to Bristol and ask if she “would be able to take homeopathic medicine to jail”, the jury was told.
The defendants deny all the charges brought against them and the trial continues.
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