Samuel Corner Guilty Over Elbit Systems Raid and £1m Damage
samuel corner was found guilty of criminal damage over the August 2024 break-in at an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol, and a jury also found him guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Sgt Kate Evans. Three other Palestine Action activists — Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani — were also found guilty of criminal damage after the retrial.
The jury returned its verdicts after more than 14 hours of deliberations. Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the activists caused an estimated £1m worth of damage during the raid.
Elbit Systems factory raid
Corner, 23, Head, 30, Kamio, 30, and Rajwani, 21, broke into the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024, where the court heard they used a decommissioned prison van to crash into security shutters. Heer said the group then damaged computers, equipment, drones and other products Elbit had manufactured.
Heer told the court: “Inside the warehouse, they set about destroying as much property as they could.” She also said: “They used crowbars and hammers to damage computers, equipment, drones and other products Elbit had manufactured,” and added: “Their role was to cause as much damage as possible until they were forcibly stopped.”
Samuel Corner and Sgt Kate Evans
Corner was cleared of the more serious offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but the jury still found him guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm after striking Sgt Kate Evans twice with a sledgehammer. Corner told the court he “would never want to seriously hurt anyone” and said it “seemed reasonable to do something” after he heard one of his fellow activists screaming and believed they were being hurt by security guards.
The same criminal damage charge had already led to acquittals for Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, at Woolwich Crown Court. During the first trial, the jury acquitted all of the activists of aggravated burglary, and the retrial followed when the first jury failed to reach verdicts on all counts.
Woolwich Crown Court verdicts
The retrial leaves Corner facing a guilty verdict on both criminal damage and grievous bodily harm, while Head, Kamio and Rajwani were also convicted on the damage charge. For the activists, the practical result is straightforward: the court has now settled the core counts tied to the Bristol raid, and the case has moved from disputed allegations about the break-in to verdicts on the damage and injury allegations that prosecutors brought to trial.
