Palestine Action activists found not guilty over Elbit factory break-in

Six British pro-Palestinian activists were acquitted on Wednesday of aggravated burglary relating to a 2024 raid on a factory operated by Israeli defence firm Elbit, with a jury unable to reach verdicts on charges of criminal damage.

Prosecutors said the six defendants, whose trial began in November, were members of the now-banned group Palestine Action, which organised the assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August last year.

The six - Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31 - all denied charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage.

Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder by a jury at London's Woolwich Crown Court, while it could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio after more than 36-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent for hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on that count.

The six defendants hugged in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly after the judge had left the court.