On 12 June, four of the Filton 25 direct action activists were sentenced to draconian terms of imprisonment for their roles in the August 2024 raid on the main British premises of Israeli weapons manufacturers Elbit Systems. Unbeknown to the jury who convicted them, Judge Jeremy Johnson had already determined that he would avail himself of a power under the Sentencing Act 2020, whereby convictions for non-terrorism crimes can be designated as ‘terrorism-related’. The four now face a prison regime specifically designed to isolate ‘terrorist prisoners’ from their supporters outside in an attempt to break their resolve and spirit. It is our job to support these activists, both by highlighting their situation and by communicating with them even as the system attempts to bar us from doing so. NICKI JAMESON reports.
In the course of their trial, Woolwich Crown Court had heard how the six activists had destroyed 40 drones in 20 minutes and cost Elbit around £1m in damage. The trial was heavily manipulated, with key defences such as that of ‘committing a crime to prevent a greater crime’ ruled out by the blatantly biased judge. Nonetheless, the defendants stood strong in the dock, attesting to their pride in having played a small part in hampering the murderous Zionist war machine and interfering with Britain’s complicity with genocide.
At an earlier trial, in which they faced charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder, and criminal damage, and Sam Corner an additional charge of GBH with intent, none of the six were convicted of any crime, with the jury finding them not guilty on some charges and unable to reach a verdict on others. Aggravated burglary and violent disorder were then dropped and the six retried only in relation to criminal damage, with Sam Corner continuing to face the GBH charge. At the retrial Jordan Devlin and Joey Hinchcliffe were acquitted on all counts, while Lottie Head, Ellie Kamio, Fatema Zainab Rajwani and Sam Corner were found guilty of criminal damage, with Sam Corner additionally convicted of GBH, but without intent.
Special Sentences for Offenders of Particular Concern
Despite there being no terrorism charges on the indictment and Palestine Action not being proscribed under the Terrorism Act at the time of the Filton action, Johnson deliberately chose to use the terrorism label to impose Special Sentences for Offenders of Particular Concern. These consist of a custodial term to be served in full unless the Parole Board recommends release at the two-thirds point, with a further year of ‘supervision’, during which the released prisoner can be recalled to prison for any alleged licence breach. The four Filton activists’ custodial terms range from four to five years.
Johnson also imposed a draconian 15-year period of monitoring via the ‘terrorism notification’ provisions in Part 4 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008. Breaching the notification regime is itself a criminal offence punishable by a further term of imprisonment.
This unprecedented extension of state power and ratcheting up of repressive measures shows how desperate the British Labour government is to ruthlessly stamp out any expression of support for the Palestinian struggle.
The second Filton 25 trial of a further eight defendants is currently drawing to a close, with further trials scheduled for September 2026 and February 2027.
