UK
I thought the sledgehammer blow by Palestine Action attacker had shattered my spine, says police officer
Police officer struck during a raid by the terror group on Elbit Systems in Bristol gives evidence in court
November 24, 2025 16:09
Police officer struck during a raid by the terror group on Elbit Systems in Bristol gives evidence in court
November 24, 2025 16:09A Palestine Action activist struck a police sergeant with a sledgehammer, causing her to scream out in pain, after swinging it at another officer at an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site, a trial has heard.
Six activists are accused of carrying out an attack at Elbit Systems in Bristol after breaking into the factory in a prison van in the early hours of August 6 last year, using sledgehammers as weapons and wearing red jumpsuits.
Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin are charged with aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder in relation to the alleged break-in.
Corner denies a further charge of causing police sergeant Kate Evans grievous bodily harm.
Police Sergeant (PS) Evans told Woolwich Crown Court on Monday she thought her spine was “shattered” when she was hit to her lower back while she was on her knees arresting a female activist.
Giving evidence, PS Evans told the jury: “I can remember struggling with the handcuffs. The ratchet bit got caught on the clothing, on her red boiler suit.
“Then I remember looking up at my colleague – he just had this shocked face on him then I just remember pain in my back.
“It was just a massive shock vibrating through my whole body, a thud on my back. It just extended through my whole body down to my legs. I felt frozen.
“I was stunned to begin with. I didn’t know what it was. I remember looking round and seeing the male with the sledgehammer behind me.”
She added: “I can remember a million thoughts racing through my head. When I look back, it was almost like I was in a movie and everything happened really fast around me.
“My head’s thinking my spine is shattered at this point.”
PS Evans told the trial she recalls only one blow, but her colleague police constable Peter Adams said he saw Corner hit her on her back twice.
PC Adams told the court: “I remember her screaming in pain and she’s fallen to the floor on her back.”
The court heard that PS Evans was left with a large bruise on her back and an X-ray showed there was a fracture to her lumbar spine, leaving her unable to return to work for three months.
PC Aaron Buxton also attended the incident and recalled the “blonde male”, who hit Ms Evans, swinging a sledgehammer at him moments before when he had tackled another activist to the floor.
He told the jury: “I was laid on my back with the male with brown hair on top of me. The male with blonde hair turned and walked back towards us. He has swung the sledgehammer multiple times towards me.
“I don’t know how many times he swung it because in the moment I was scared. I believe it made contact with my right calf and my work radio.
“I had quite considerable pain down that area of my leg following it. Also I had slight bruising come up.”
All six defendants were arrested at the factory.
The court heard that Elbit Systems UK manufactures defence technology equipment and is a UK-registered company whose parent company is based in Israel.
Head, 29; Kamio, 30; Rajwani, 21; Rogers, 22; Devlin, 31; and Corner, 23, deny the charges against them.
The trial continues.
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