Three Palestine Action defendants cleared of violent disorder in protest trial

Three Palestine Action defendants were cleared of violent disorder after a jury spent more than 36 hours weighing charges over a break-in at Elbit Systems UK’s site in Filton, near Bristol. Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner and Leona Kamio were found not guilty at Woolwich Crown Court, but the case is not over: criminal damage allegations remain outstanding.

The verdicts came from a wider prosecution over the 6 August 2024 incident, which prosecutors said targeted the Israel-based defence firm’s facility. The jury had already rejected aggravated burglary allegations, leaving the remaining criminal damage counts unresolved. Prosecutors later said they intended to seek a retrial on the charges where no verdict was reached.

The Filton case has become one of the most closely watched tests of how far the law can go in policing direct action against defence companies. The violent disorder acquittals narrow the case against the three defendants, but they do not erase the underlying allegation that damage was caused during the raid. They also do not affect the separate criminal damage counts, which remain live and could still return the defendants to court.

The prosecution sits against a wider crackdown on Palestine Action after the UK government proscribed the group in July 2025 under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Home Office said the ban followed advice from cross-government experts, and support for the group can carry a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. That order took effect on 5 July 2025 after ministers said the group had carried out an escalating campaign involving criminal damage.

The proscription has since been challenged. In February 2026, the High Court ruled that the decision to ban Palestine Action was unlawful, although the order remains in force pending appeal. Police have said they must continue enforcing the law while the ban stands, while rights groups including Human Rights Watch have argued that the acquittals underscore concerns about the direction of the UK’s protest crackdown. The Filton trial now leaves a clear legal dividing line in place: acquittal on violent disorder does not end exposure to criminal damage charges, and it does not settle the broader fight over how direct-action campaigners are treated under terrorism law.