Dramatic police bodycam footage, allegedly showing activists attacking officers with a sledgehammer during a break-in at a defence factory, has been presented to a jury at Woolwich Crown Court.
The Alleged Attack and Charges
Six members of the group Palestine Action are standing trial accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and violent disorder following an incident at an Elbit Systems UK factory in Bristol. The alleged meticulously organised attack occurred in the early hours of 6 August last year.
The defendants, who all deny the charges, are Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31. Samuel Corner faces an additional charge of causing grievous bodily harm, which he also denies.
Prosecutors told the court that the group, wearing red boiler suits, used a prison van to gain entry to the site. Upon arrival, officers found a security guard covered in foam and activists allegedly splattering red paint and smashing property with sledgehammers.
Bodycam Footage and Police Testimony
The court was shown footage from officers' body-worn cameras. One clip reportedly shows a man, alleged to be Samuel Corner, swinging a sledgehammer at PC Aaron Buxton as he lay on his back during a struggle with another suspect.
"As he has reached us he has swung the sledgehammer multiple times towards me," PC Buxton testified. "I was scared. I believe it made contact with my right calf and my work radio. I had quite considerable pain down that area of my leg following it and also I had some bruising come up."
PC Buxton then told jurors he saw the same man strike Police Sergeant Kate Evans in the back as she was kneeling to arrest another suspect.
Impact on Injured Officer
Giving evidence, PS Evans described the moment of impact: "I can remember looking up and PC Adams for some reason had a shocked face on him, and then I had a pain in my back. It was just a massive shock vibrating through my whole back, a thud on my back through my whole body extended down to my legs."
She initially thought her "spine was shattered" and was left with a fracture to her lumbar spine. The court heard that PS Evans was unable to work for three months, needed help getting in and out of the shower, and took painkillers to manage the "intense pain".
Despite her injury, PS Evans described checking on Mr Corner's handcuffs when he complained they were too tight, stating, "We still have a duty of care." She said he then accused officers of being "complicit in genocide."
The jury was informed that Elbit Systems UK manufactures defence technology and is a UK-registered company with a parent company based in Israel. Prosecutors emphasised that the allegations pre-date the proscription of Palestine Action under terrorism laws in June, and that the ban is not relevant to the evidence in this case.
The trial continues.
