The defendants were accused of assisting or encouraging an action at Elbit Systems’ Filton site in August 2024, during which activists allegedly destroyed equipment, including quadcopter drones.
The court heard none of the defendants were at Elbit during raid but were alleged to have helped to plan it, including by compiling an equipment list, reconnaissance, purchasing tools and weapons used by others, and co-ordinating the break-in and its filming.
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest weapons company and has faced repeated protests and direct action from Palestine Action over its links to the Israeli military and the war in Gaza.
The Filton 25 are a group of 25 pro-Palestine activists, mainly associated with Palestine Action, who were arrested and prosecuted in connection with an action targeting Elbit Systems‘ weapons facility in Filton, near Bristol.
Four other Filton 25 defendants — Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Charlotte Head and Fatema Zainab Rajwani — were sentenced under terrorism legislation following convictions for criminal damage just days before the latest trial began.
