Overview
- A London judge found the August 2024 break‑in at Elbit Systems had a terrorist connection and on Friday handed multi‑year sentences to four activists for criminal damage, with Samuel Corner jailed for seven years and eight months and the others receiving five years, five years, and four years eight months respectively.
- The court heard the raid caused about £1.2 million of damage and that Corner struck a police officer with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine, which prosecutors said justified treating the crimes as linked to an ideological aim to influence government policy.
- Because the judge applied a terrorism connection, the convicts must serve at least two‑thirds of their terms before parole eligibility, face enhanced post‑release notification and monitoring, and will spend an extra year on licence after release.
- Roughly 500 supporters gathered outside Woolwich Crown Court on the day of sentencing and dozens to over 100 people were arrested for supporting Palestine Action as police enforced the proscription law during the demonstration.
- The ruling intensifies a parallel legal fight: the High Court has already declared the government’s proscription of Palestine Action unlawful but left the ban in place pending the government's appeal to the Court of Appeal, and human‑rights groups and legal academics warn the sentencing sets a risky precedent for protest.