FOUR Palestine Action activists were found guilty of criminal damage today after raiding an Israel-based defence firm’s site.

Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani were in a prison van which crashed into shutters at the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol in the early hours of August 6 2024.

They are part of Filton 24, two dozen pro-Palestine activists alleged to have raided the Bristol branch of Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in August 2024.

The four activists, all wearing red boilersuits, set about destroying property inside the factory with sledgehammers and crowbars in a bid to shut the factory down.

They caused an estimated £1 million of damage before clashing with security guards and police who tried to stop the raid, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

Head, 30, was driving the prison van which was used as a “battering ram” to break into the facility.

The raid had been “meticulously organised” and was aimed at “causing as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company,” said prosecutor Deanna Heer KC.

Head, Corner, Kamio and Rajwani were each found guilty of criminal damage after a jury deliberated for more than 14 hours.

Two other activists, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, who had been charged with criminal damage, were found not guilty.

Corner was also found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm by a majority of 11 to one. He was cleared of grievous bodily harm with intent.

The convictions come at the end of a retrial, 21 months after the defendants were first charged.

At their first trial, all six defendants were cleared by a jury of aggravated burglary, and Rajwani, Ms Rogers and Mr Devlin were acquitted of violent disorder.