The shadow home secretary Chris Philp has urged the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to seek a re-trial of Palestine Action activists accused of criminal damage and grievous bodily harm.
Yesterday, a jury found six Palestine Action activists Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, who were accused of breaking into a factory owned by defence firm Elbit Systems in August 2024, not guilty of aggravated burglary.
Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder.
However, the jury could not reach a verdict for charges of criminal damage against any of the six defendants, or on the charges of violent disorder against Head, Corner and Kamio.
It also did not reach a verdict on the charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent against Corner relating to the alleged assault of a police sergeant at the site.
It is now up to the CPS to consider whether to request a re-trial and Philp urged Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, to do just that in a letter published on X.
I’ve written to the DPP to urge a re-trial of the Palestine Action activists https://t.co/kYCH0X2sX3 pic.twitter.com/sYVHzY2eIs
— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) February 5, 2026
“In the footage of the alleged break-in, Corner appears to strike Police Sergeant Kate Evans on the back with a sledgehammer while she was on the floor. This left her with a fracture to her spine”, Philp said.
The Conservative MP for Croydon South continued: “The footage also appears to show the activists spraying red paint from fire extinguishers and using crowbars and hammers to break computer equipment and boxes of technical products during the break-in.
“I believe a re-trial is necessary on these charges because the jury could not reach a verdict.”
He went on: “The CPS guidance on re-trials says a re-trial might be necessary if the jury cannot reach a verdict and ‘if there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and a prosecution is required in the public interest the CPS will proceed to a second trial’,” which Philp said he believed there was.
The Police Federation wrote to Parkinson to express concern about the potential impact on police officers’ ability to maintain public order.
We have written to the Director of Public Prosecutions following the recent Elbit protest verdicts, in which a police officer was seriously injured.
— Police Federation of England and Wales (@PFEW_HQ) February 5, 2026
Our duty is to speak up when outcomes risk impacting officer safety and future public order policing.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/SRfOOyHcKt
In their letter, also posted to X, they said it was their duty “to raise serious concerns about the operational and safety implications these outcomes may now have for all officers but especially those tasked with policing public order and protest activity.”
They continued: “We share a real and growing concern that recent verdicts will be interpreted, by those intent on disruptive or dangerous protest, as lowering the consequences for conduct that places officers and the public at risk. That perception alone matters. It affects deterrence, behaviour on the ground, and the level of threat officers face when carrying out lawful duties.”
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