People hold banners as they protest outside London's Old Bailey when four Palestine solidarity activists plead not guilty to breaking into a British military air base and damaging two planes in protest against Britain's support for Israel, in London, Britain, Jan. 16, 2026. (Credit: Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters)
Six British Palestine solidarity activists, part of the Filton24, were acquitted on Wednesday after facing charges over a 2024 raid on a Israeli arms manufacturer, with a jury unable to reach verdicts on other charges including criminal damage.
Prosecutors said the six defendants were members of the group Palestine Action, which organized a direct action on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August 2024, allegedly causing about 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) of damage.
Palestine Action was banned by the U.K. government in July 2025 under U.K. terrorism laws, almost a year after the direct action and the arrests of the Filton24 took place.
Prosecutors had told a jury at London's Woolwich Crown Court at the start of the trial in November that the six were part of a larger group that broke into the factory in the early hours of Aug. 6, 2024. Prosecutor Deanna Heer alleged that some of the group had caused "extensive damage" inside the factory.
'Love, not hate'
The defendants all pleaded not guilty, saying their actions were motivated by "love" for the people of Palestine and as a way to destroy the weapons that Israel was using to commit its genocide in Gaza.
Zoe Rogers, 22, one of the six defendants to be acquitted today, wrote a poem while in jail. The first and last lines read as follows: “When they ask me why I did it, I tell them about the children… but I never forget to say that it was love, not hate, that called me." When asked what she meant by this, she explained, "I was motivated by a love for the Palestinian people, and a desire for their freedom from apartheid and occupation and genocide, not by hatred of security guards."
Not guilty verdicts and a hung jury, all acquitted
The six on trial – Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31 – all denied charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage. They were all acquitted of the burglary offense while Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio after more than 36-and-a-half hours of deliberation. Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent of hurting a police sergeant. The jury was also unable to reach a verdict on that count.
Following the verdict, the defendants hugged each other in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly in support after the judge had left the court.
Heer said on Wednesday that prosecutors wanted time to consider whether to seek a retrial on the counts on which the jury could not reach verdicts.
