"They failed to reach an agreement": The trial of Palestine Action activists over the raid on Elbit factories has been dissolved
A judge at the Old Bailey dissolved the jury in the trial of eight Palestine Action activists, after the jurors managed to reach only one conviction out of 15 charges. The charges involved aiding and planning the raid on the Elbit factory in Filton in August 2024. The prosecution will consider a retrial.
A judge at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of England, dissolved the jury this week in the trial of eight activists linked to the Palestine Action organization, which has been outlawed in the UK. The trial dealt with allegations of aiding and planning the raid on the Elbit Systems factory in the Filton suburb of Bristol, which occurred on August 6, 2024. In that operation, activists broke into the factory using an old prison vehicle used as a battering ram, leading to the destruction of forty Israeli weapons, including quadcopter drones. The financial damage to the equipment was estimated at £1.2 million. The eight defendants were not at the scene during the operation itself but were charged with aiding, encouraging, and planning, including compiling equipment lists, conducting reconnaissance, and purchasing tools. Some of them were held in custody for up to 18 months until the trial began. The jury deliberated for more than 37 hours and returned only one conviction for "criminal damage" against one defendant whose identity was not published. In the remaining 14 counts, no verdict was reached, and Judge Patrick Field ordered the jury to be dissolved. The prosecution will now consider whether to request a retrial, and a preliminary hearing has been set for September 14. Four other activists who were at the site during the raid had already been convicted earlier and were sentenced in June 2026 to prison terms of years, with a "terror connection" applied at the sentencing stage. The Palestine Action organization was declared a terrorist organization in the UK in July 2025, following a break-in at the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton. The High Court ruled in February 2026 that the declaration was unlawful, but the Court of Appeal overturned that decision in June 2026, ruling that the declaration was lawful.