Eighteen defendants allegedly involved in a Palestine Action raid on an Israeli-owned arms factory in the UK will no longer face charges of aggarvated burglary, after six others were acquitted of the same charges.
At Woolwich Crown Court in London on Wednesday, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the Crown Prosecution Service had "reconsidered the sufficiency of the evidence" and would offer no evidence on that charge. The 18 will continue to face other charges in connection with the alleged raid.
The move follows the acquittal of six other defendants on charges of aggravated burglary in connection with the same break-in at an Elbit Systems plant near Bristol in August 2024. Heer confirmed on Wednesday that those six defendants face a retrial at a date yet to be fixed on all charges which had not ended in verdicts, including criminal damage and violent disorder.
They were held for around 18 months on remand - in excess of standard UK pre-trial custody time limits of six months.