Filton 18

Filton 18 (Activism)
Initially 18 later 25 Palestine Action activists

The Filton 18 are a group of Palestine Action activists who, in August 2024, forced their way through the doors of a UK base of Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems at Filton, on the outskirts of Bristol.

On 18 February 2026, all 24 of the group of Palestine activists were acquitted of “aggravated burglary” after state prosecutors offered no evidence for the charge. The trial of the first six — Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Ellie Kamio, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin — ended on 4 February 2026. They were acquitted of “aggravated burglary” which meant the jury rejected the prosecution’s case that the defendants entered the weapons factory with the intention of using weapons against people.

Now the remaining Filton 18 have been acquitted of the charge in a “significant victory”.

Background

The Filton 24 were taking direct action against the UK's complicity in Israel’s brutal war in Gaza – which has been described by United Nations experts and many others as genocidal – and attempting to disrupt the work of the Filton facility. Palestine Action has since continued to protest at buildings Elbit owns near Bristol.

Elbit Systems UK is a subsidiary of the largest manufacturer of arms for the Israeli military. Elbit produces 85% of the Israel Defence Force’s (IDF) land-based equipment, and 85% of drones used by its air force, and advertises its products as “battle-tested” in Gaza and the West Bank.

According to Palestine Action, the action which took place in August 2024 included damaging quadcopter drones being manufactured in the UK which may have been otherwise shipped for use in Gaza. Quadcopter drones have been widely used by the Israeli army in its ongoing genocide, the robotic devices are regularly used to kill and surveil Palestinians under occupation both in Gaza and in the West Bank.

Six arrested

Four out of six convicted of criminal damage

On 6 August 2024, six Palestine Action activists were arrested for entering Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol, in protest of the company’s profiteering from Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The Palestine Action activists were initially held under the 2000 Terrorism Act, which allowed authorities to hold and question them without charge for up to 14 days. During the course of seven days, the activists were held in solitary confinement and were not allowed to have any visitors or communication with family.

A week later, they were charged.

In February 2026, the Filton Six were “acquitted or not convicted of all charges against them” by a UK jury in what was described by Palestine Action as “monumental and total victory”.

Asa Winstanley reported that, “All six were found not guilty of aggravated burglary, the most serious charge which could have led to life sentences” and that “the jury acquitted Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin of violent disorder” and “refused to convict Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner and Leona Kamio of the same charge” and “refused to convict any of the defendants of criminal damage”.

Secret "terrorism" charge

But to reverse this decision, the Crown Prosecution Service arranged a retrial with the jury being denied the vital context of the fact that the six Palestine Action activists in Filton were destroying military equipment used to commit a genocide, and where a secret terrorism charge is being levied against the activists, without the jury’s knowledge- a story the UK press was forbidden to report on.

This was exposed by British MP, Zarah Sultana, who stated in parliament:

“If convicted they (the Filton 6) and 18 others will be sentenced as terrorists, but the jury will not be told that, they could convict them on criminal damage charges with no idea that terrorism sentences will follow” adding that “the defendants themselves have been banned from telling the jury that they acted to stop genocide under threat of contempt charges”.

As Sultana noted, “this is what a stitch-up looks like”.

The Grayzone reported:

“The six Palestine Action defendants in the upcoming trial are not yet being publicly accused of terrorist crimes, and will be tried collectively for criminal damage, with one facing separate charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent” adding, “if they are found guilty, Judge Jeremy Johnson has been granted the authority to decide unilaterally whether they should be sentenced as terrorists”.

It added that, “court-imposed restrictions will prohibit what the six defendants can say about the crimes of which they are accused. Expressly forbidden from informing jurors about their motivations for crippling a core component of Israel’s international killing machine, defendants will be deprived of a major prong of their legal strategy. In past trials, activists have successfully argued their alleged offences were necessary to prevent far more serious crimes being perpetrated by Israel.”

It added, “While the jurors will be told they are ruling on a criminal case, a judge who has demonstrated every intention of ruining the organisation has been granted to latitude to sentence the defendants as terrorists. And the jurors have been blocked from knowing this.”

Criminal damage convictions

On 5 May 2026, at Woolwich Crown Court, four of the Filton 6 were convicted of criminal damage relating to the Elbit Systems raid: Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Zainab Rajwani. Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin were found not guilty. Corner, who prosecutors said struck a police officer with a sledgehammer, was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm. The verdicts follow the February 2026 trial, when all six defendants were acquitted of aggravated burglary, but the jury could not reach verdicts on the criminal damage charges.

Reporting restrictions lifted

On 12 May 2026, Declassified reported:

"Reporting restrictions have finally been lifted on the first Filton case, concerning a Palestine Action raid on an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol.

"The media is now allowed to report that the activists can be sentenced with regard to a "terrorism connection".

"The Jury was not allowed to know that this "terrorism connection" could be applied at sentencing, and found four of the six defendants guilty of "criminal damage", with one of them also convicted of GBH without intent.

"Being sentenced as terrorists means the activists could face significantly longer prison sentences and would be listed as terrorists upon release.

"The other two defendants, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were found not guilty."

Complaint against Judge Johnson

Recusal of Judge Johnson?

Legal experts are among thousands who have signed a formal complaint accusing Judge Johnson of bias and discriminatory conduct in the Filton 25 case. The complaint, which was filed on Friday 5 May 2026 by the campaign group, Defend Our Juries (DOJ), with the Judicial Conduct Office, comes ahead of a hearing on Monday May 8^th on the defendants’ application for Justice Jeremy Johnson's recusal on the grounds of apparent bias and abuses of process.

Sentenced as terrorists

On 12 June 2026, CAGE International posted on X:

At today's sentencing of the Filton four, Mr Justice Johnson dressed an unprecedented, politically engineered outcome in the language of proportionality, regret and judicial duty - a masterclass in rhetorical misdirection.

Four activists were branded terrorists for fulfilling an obligation international law places on us all, solemn acknowledgements of their sincerity paired with sentences that ensured exactly that outcome.

Charlotte Head was handed a custodial sentence of six years less 45 days and disqualified from driving for four years.

Leona Kamio was sentenced to six years less 45 days.

Fatema Zainab Rajwani was sentenced to five years and eight months less 45 days.

Samuel Corner was sentenced to a combined eight years and eight months for both offences.

Government's ban unlawful

Eighteen months on from the August 2024 break-in, many of the Palestine Action activists were languishing behind bars until their trial, which was set for February 2027.

On 13 February 2026, a panel of three Judges at the Royal Courts of Justice ruled that the Labour government’s proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.

The Filton 24 campaign said:

“It is clear that the state’s overreach has truly backfired. The message is now clear—the repression must end and so should the ongoing government involvement in the ongoing Gaza genocide.”

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Palestine Action to be proscribed as a terror group after break-in at UK's largest airbase	Article	20 June 2025	MEE staff	Palestine Action have carried out a series of high-profile actions during Israel's war on Gaza. Eighteen PA activists were arrested on terror charges after an action in August 2024 when activists drove a modified van into the research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. The Filton 18 are currently being held in remand.

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