'Sledgehammers used by activists on security'

PALESTINE Action activists broke into an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site in a prison van before using sledgehammers as weapons on security guards and police officers, prosecutors say.

- TED HENNESSEY

Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin are accused of carrying out a “meticulously organised” attack at an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol in the early hours of August 6 last year.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC, opening the trial at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday, said the six, wearing red jumpsuits, attempted to “cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company”.

She said they were each armed with a sledgehammer, which was intended to be used to damage property but that they were also carried as “weapons” to be used to threaten and damage people if necessary.

Jurors heard that the alleged aim was to close the site for “a significant period of time by targeting key systems and capital to the site operation” Ms Heer said that security at the site was “tight”, with the buildings protected by two perimeter fences, security gates, CCTV cameras and security guards.