As the trial finished at Woolwich Crown Court of the six Palestine Action activists who entered the Filton factory to destroy Israeli killer drones, Starmer, Cooper, Lammy and Mahmood are left bereft of a single guilty verdict in the case on which they relied heavily to label Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
I could not, on pain of imprisonment, tell you this during the trial. One item produced by the prosecution as evidence was the notebook of Charlotte Head, on which she had written details from her training session with Palestine Action and of the proposed direct action against Elbit’s drone factory.
The first ten pages of her notes were about the Israeli weapons company Elbit, their footprint in the UK, their corporate structure and the weapons they manufacture, and the evidence of the use of their weaponry in the genocide in Gaza.
The jury were shown the notebook but were specifically not allowed to see the first ten pages. Throughout the trial anything that referred to the crimes of Elbit, their role in the mass killing and mutilation of women and children, and their cosy relationship with the British government, was excluded from the jury. The judge continually stopped the defence lawyers from asking or saying anything about who Elbit are or why their property was being attacked.
The defendants were not permitted therefore to explain to the jury why they did what they did – which you might have believed was a pretty fundamental right. The jury were additionally, in effect, instructed by Judge Johnson to convict on the least serious charge, that of criminal damage.
But despite the state taking every possible precaution to ensure that the state got its convictions in this show trial, the jury refused to find that trying to stop Genocide is a crime.
This trial was fundamental to the government’s argument that Palestine Action is a terrorist organisation. And the key to that was the accusation that Palestine Action from the start intended harm to people, not just to property. That is why these defendants were all charged with “aggravated burglary”.
Aggravated burglary is an extremely serious charge, carrying a potential life sentence. It is the offence of breaking into a property with the intent to use a weapon. On aggravated burglary, all six defendants were found resoundingly Not Guilty.
So the attempt to portray Palestine Action as an organisation involved in violence against persons has fallen flat on its face. Because the jury could see it was stupid and obviously untrue.
When it comes to events after the activists were attacked by security guards, three of the six were found not guilty of the charge of “violent disorder”. On three others the jury could not reach a verdict.
Most interesting of all perhaps was the charge of criminal damage to Elbit’s machinery and instruments of genocide. Here Judge Johnson to all intents and purposes had instructed the jury to convict. Yet enough of the jury could not accept that stopping Genocide is a crime.
The final question was the charge against Samuel Corner of Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent. This was the famous incident where the security guards attacked the defendants with weapons and there was a melee as they defended themselves.
It is worth stating that the tabloid stories and right-wing meme of “a policewoman’s spine was fractured” was always utter nonsense. As the defence closing speech stated:
The prosecution have said it was a fracture to the spine, a deliberate choice of words which although technically accurate, conjure up a break, a snapping of the spinal vertebrae. Maybe that’s what the jury had in mind until they saw the CT scan – it was actually an injury that wasn’t obvious. The doctors looking at the first X-rays didn’t identify any bone damage, nor in an MRI later.
The injury didn’t require surgery and Sergeant Evans was advised to take painkillers and do physiotherapy. The agreed facts state from medical evidence that you’d expect such a fracture to heal in six to twelve weeks, with full healing in three to six months, and no long-term consequences.
The unfortunate policewoman suffered no damage at all to her spinal cord. She had a possible hairline fracture to the wing of one vertebra. That there was any fracture at all was never definitive from the X-rays and MRIs. Whether it reached the bar of grievous bodily harm was disputed; how it was caused was disputed; and whether there was any intent to harm was disputed. The refusal of the jury to convict was completely consistent with the evidence heard in court.
This has driven right-wingers into a frenzy with completely false claims about the extent of the injury, and continued reference to a highly edited brief video clip.
That video clip is extremely important because it represents the height of the state’s attempt to use this incident to demonise Palestine Action. The police were permitted, during the course of the trial, to release a single and highly edited clip of video said to represent the injury of Sergeant Evans by a sledgehammer. A great deal of other video evidence was not released. This resulted in a massive media frenzy.
Even before this, Yvette Cooper and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley had caused massive prejudice by stating that a policewoman had been attacked with a sledgehammer.
None of these deliberate attempts to affect the trial was censured by the judge nor resulted in any proceedings for contempt of court. Yet we were strictly told we absolutely could not mention that the judge was withholding the evidence about Elbit from the jury, as that would prejudice the trial and we would face contempt of court proceedings.
On Sergeant Evans, she has become a cause célèbre for the right, but I should say there is no evidence she is herself whipping this up. Her behaviour on the night was admirable. She was not herself involved in the excessive use of force – and, despite her own painful back, tended to others after the event quietened.
In my view, this prosecution was doomed by the overcharging and exaggeration used by the government to demonise Palestine Action. The “aggravated burglary” charge was ludicrous. To attempt to claim that the activists entered the factory with the intent of using weapons against people, went so far against the evidence it was bound to fail.
The massive over-exaggeration of the extent of Sergeant Evans’s injury has successfully whipped up right-wing hysteria, but did not really meet the threshold of grievous bodily harm, and the decision to add intent to that charge was again not backed by evidence.
On criminal damage, the jury plainly refused to accept the destruction of weapons of genocide was a crime. For that, I salute them. For the rest, they simply applied robust common sense to the evidence before them.
The “policewoman attacked with a sledgehammer” nonsense of course featured heavily in the English judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. In the Scottish judicial review, they cannot really use this – not without a caveat that a jury did not agree with them.
The Filton result is great news for the Scottish judicial review. We have to submit all the paperwork for that, in just seven working days. I hate to say this, but we are now desperately short of funds to continue this action. I cannot keep asking the same supporters to give more, but if you know people who can afford it and will contribute please activate them.
You can donate through the link via Crowd Justice, which goes straight to the lawyers, or through this blog.
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/scottish-challenge-to-proscription/
Alternatively by bank transfer:
Account name
MURRAY CJ
Account number 3 2 1 5 0 9 6 2
Sort code 6 0 – 4 0 – 0 5
IBAN GB98NWBK60400532150962
BIC NWBKGB2L
Bank address NatWest, PO Box 414, 38 Strand, London, WC2H 5JB
Or crypto:
Bitcoin: bc1q3sdm60rshynxtvfnkhhqjn83vk3e3nyw78cjx9
Ethereum/ERC-20: 0x764a6054783e86C321Cb8208442477d24834861a
Still no apologies from the ziomoney infused cabinet, instead they are contemplating an appeal against the Filton 6, after they have strained their two braincells, to waste many more thousands of taxes to keep to their murderous genocidal relationship with the Nazis that are occupying Gaza, starving and bombing the tents of 1.6million Palestinians whos lands they occupied since they were let into Palestine.
Starmer is criminalising us, the people, who in the majority are abhored what is being done in Gaza, the West Bank,Lebanon and in Syria.
OUTRAGEOUS!
And the collective Labour party support this international criminality,
The “guidance” is that a decision on whether to apply for a retrial should be taken within 14 days if a defendant is out on bail (as five now are) and seven if the person is still in custody (as Sam Corner is). Tomorrow is the seventh day.
https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/re-trials
I reckon the authorities will probably go for a retrial of all or most defendants. The Zionists don’t give a toss about the public relations problems that may enmire host authorities.
Well Starmer seems to be in no position to repeat his call for “Prince” Andrew to testify in the USA. No journalist is likely to remind him of it, either.
I wonder whether he’ll last as long as Johnson did after he called the current king’s attack on the Rwanda plan “condescending” and “patronising”.
“Prince” Andrew was passing government documents to an agent of a foreign power within minutes of receiving them. One can justly ask who got Mandelson appointed. Why not also ask who got “Prince” Andrew appointed to the position where he carried out his espionage?
Incidentally what do Morgan McSweeney and Boris Johnson have in common? They’re both kibbutzniks.
If there’s good news this week, it’s that the “king” is being heckled.
Is being a pervert a prerequisite for being involved in the Labour Party ?
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/11/hope-not-hate-political-organiser-and-former-labour-councillor-pleads-guilty-to-child-sexual-offences/
More evidence about McSweeney and the gang of perverts running labour.
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2026/02/12/morgan-mcsweeney-inner-circle/
Good news – according to the BBC the High Court finds the ban on PA disproportionate. The judgment and a press summary can be downloaded here.
However the ban on PA remains in place for now. Shabana Mahmood was predictably “disappointed” and the government plans to appeal.
Anyone here have the suspicion that the provisional ruling the UK courts just made regarding the proscription of Palistine Action being illegal is to head off the Scottish ruling on the 23rd? Seems suspect that the judges said “the proscription was illegal but the proscription remains in place until the 20th, when we will decide what to do”. At that point, the Scottish case will be thrown out because there isn’t a case to hear and then we can all be told that the UK government appeal was successful which means another 6 months of time and money for Scotland to bring a case. Am I just being paranoid? Well, I will find out on the 20th I suppose.
The English high court is what you mean.
“The Met said it would not arrest anyone who expresses support for Palestine Action, with officers instead “gathering evidence” of the actions for “enforcement at a later date”.”
That is policy on the hoof. It is not a serious way to enforce the criminal law. Is ZOG in disarray or what? Meanwhile the head of the civil service has been forced out. F*ck knows what’s going on, but it’s unlikely to be about emails some of the Epsteiners sent each other several years ago. At the very least another significant turning of the ratchet is likely, perhaps after some engineered volatility. Could well be all about war.
Curiously the prime minister isn’t calling for “Prince” Andrew to testify any more. Has he been taught a lesson?
Cue Palantir
Wonderful knews.
Like Dean I suspect that the Scottish Judicial Review influenced matters as the England & Wales High Court ruling may help postpone a consistutional crisis should the Scottish Court rule the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
Congratulations to all those involved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_v_Stewart
The casuistry of the ruling being a ruling but a not ruling reminds me of Somersett’s Case.
Squeeth:
Yes the rules indoors are different from those outdoors. Snowden documented the transition from the NSA surveilling everyone excepting US citizens (as per the Constitution) to its then taking active steps to surveil US citizens. The Somerset ruling did expose the contradications involved neatly summarised by Mr Franklin [see your link]. Change did follow along with the biggest compensation package the state has ever advanced (to the Slave Plantation owners).
With regard to Palestine Action I want to correct my opinion above; the Filton 6 jury decisively undermined the contention that their [Filton 6] action was a violent enterprise and therefore this meant that the grounds for labelling it Terrorist were clearly not met. Salute to the Jury. The test will be how the Scottish High Court now proceed. I would expect them to proceed in any case and give their own ruling as Palestine Action are still proscribed and Scotland (thank heavens) is a separate jurisdiction. The UK Home Secretary has been given an invitation by the England/Wales High Court to withdraw, in order to avoid a constitutional crisis, but I think the Master’s blinkers have been applied so tightly that their tunnel vision excludes consideration of the risks in seeking to maintain the proscription. What will be fascinating is how the political parties will react. Remember that only 26 MP’s took the step to vote against the proscription. Will the appeasers/abstainers now come out firmly against proscription ? Will there be splits in the main political parties. It would make more sense if the panjandrums got together and presented the situation with some magnanimity stating, we are a Parliament of laws and that we must respect the Judiciary (however I will not hold my breath).
“Snowden documented the transition from the NSA surveilling everyone excepting US citizens (as per the Constitution) to its then taking active steps to surveil US citizens.”
In Britain, the last I heard regarding the British military’s spooking of lawfully behaving British citizens on the internet was that hell, no, of course they’re not at war against lawfully behaving British citizens (e.g. ones expressing critical views about Covid and the regime’s response) but you can’t expect their commanding officers to control what they do when they’re off duty.
No there won’t be splits in any of the main political parties over this.
The Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies say they “seek urgent clarity from the government, police forces and the CPS regarding the implications of this ruling and the steps they intend to take to ensure that communities [*] are protected from intimidation and criminality. This includes ensuring appropriate legal tools are available.”
It’s not clear what’s happening – there’s more going on here, see the departure of the head of the civil service, Chris Wormald – but the Zionists winding their necks in surely isn’t on the cards. I can’t remember a single time in Britain when they’ve mobilised to seek to influence host country politics and failed.
Note
*) Do we all belong to “communities” or is it just them?
“…they’ve mobilised to seek to influence (their) host…”
Just like bacteria and viruses, in fact
With regard to Palestine Action I want to correct my opinion above; the Filton 6 jury decisively undermined the contention that their [Filton 6] action was a violent enterprise and therefore this meant that the grounds for labelling it Terrorist were clearly not met. Salute to the Jury.
Looking forward to your article on today’s High Court verdict. I didn’t understand why you were so hostile towards Novara Media who, like you, but also along with DeclassifiedUK*, actually contributed to the case and have done way more legitimate reporting on these cases than the rest of legacy media combined but they are claiming that they have done the most and I think it’s fair to say that they haven’t done as much as you (in terms of going into the level of detail you do when in court).
*DeclassifiedUK have done absolutely sterling investigative journalism on the UK government’s active participation in and facilitation of genocide of Palestinians in Palestine.
Unfortunately, this situation means that the risk of false flag by the terrorist government (note, I’m not specifying which government amongst British, American or Israeli) is higher than ever because they will use that to manufacture public consent to leave the ECHR to attempt (in vain) to see off Reform.
From the judges’ judicial judgment:
“More than 2,000 people at these protests were arrested, primarily on suspicion of committing the offence under section 13 of the 2000 Act. The vast majority of those arrested had chosen to hold signs which read, “I oppose Genocide, I support Palestine Action”. We attach little weight to this when it comes to assessing the extent of the interference with Convention rights in this case. All those holding such signs either did or ought to have realised that what they were doing was showing support for Palestine Action. It was or ought to have been obvious to all concerned that such “carefully worded” placards were carefully worded only to the extent of sending the message that the person holding the placard was expressing support for Palestine Action. What happened on these occasions was not evidence of difficulty or uncertainty in respect of what actions could be taken following the proscription of Palestine Action. Rather, it was evidence of calculated action.”
I wonder what happens if you catch a High Court judge (whether it’s one that went to New College, Oxford, or one that’s married to a failed Liberal Democrat politician), strap it to a plank, and try to teach it a lesson about who does what to whom in this society?
If the proscription of Palestine Action gets annulled in the same way as the proroguing of Parliament once was, with the decree judicially determined to have been equivalent to a blank bit of paper, surely all the arrestees should be entitled to compensation?
The Jewish Chronicle’s write-up is here.
In the JC article Brian linked to it said the following:
The decision followed a series of direct-action protests, including an incident in which activists broke into an RAF base, defaced aircraft, and a police officer was struck by an axe.
Needless to say, the JC is lying through its nazty teeth again and deceiving its readers big time, and no police officer was struck by an axe or anything else.
But that led to me doing a search to ascertain if any other media outlets were disseminating the same falsehood and, as such, came across the following on FB by a group calling itself Politics Coventry and Warickshire, posted on Feb 4th, in which they respond to Zach Polanski saying ‘Pleased to see the jury make this decision’ (referring to the Filton 6), with ‘So Zack thinks it is acceptable to attack a police officer with an axe and fracture her back’.
Zionists at work again no doubt, spreading disinformation (or trying to), who more-than-likely got their lead from the JC. And quite possibly being spread all around social media by zionist shills.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/157843001530394/posts/1873589513289059/
Anyway, I just checked the CAAs website to see if they’d posted about the latest development yet (which they haven’t), and came across the following in respect of the Filton 6, posted on Feb 4th, and headlined ‘Six Palestine Action activists cleared in travesty of justice’:
Six protesters affiliated with Palestine Action were cleared today in Woolwich Crown Court of aggravated burglary in connection with a break-in at a UK subsidiary of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence company.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were also charged with criminal damage and violent disorder but the jury reached partial or no verdicts on those counts.
The Elbit Systems building near Bristol was targeted in a raid in the morning of 6th August 2024. A police officer was struck with a sledgehammer during the incident.
The incident took place almost a year before Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This is what Britain has come to. You can ram a factory’s doors with a truck. You can smash everything and attack security. You can break a police officer’s back with a sledgehammer when she is on the floor. And you can walk away scot-free if you did it ‘for Palestine’.
“How far does this impunity go? Can you paralyse for Palestine? Can you put someone in a coma for Palestine? Can you kill for Palestine? With a verdict like this, how long before we find out?
“Pressure was put on the jury. They even complained to the judge about the posters encircling the court building. But the judge told them to keep calm and carry on. The CPS must examine all possible steps to reverse this appalling and consequential miscarriage of justice.”
‘paralyse for Palestine’…. Oh well, I suppose it’s got a nice ring to it, something like 'genocide for Jews’.
A few days later on Feb 9th in a compilation of articles headlined ‘A travesty of justice that must be reversed’, they start with the Feb 4th article, only THIS time they’ve got a caption under the picture at the top of the article…. Can you paralyse for Palestine?
Yes, it’s very catchy, and who knows, they’re quite possibly working on a song with said title. But perish the thought that they’re a propaganda outfit.