A Palestine Action supporter is wanted by police after absconding from jail in the middle of his Old Bailey trial.
Sean Middlebrough, 34, of Liverpool, was one of eight people accused of organising an attack on Israel-linked weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024.
During the two-month trial, Middlebrough absconded from custody after being allowed out for three days to attend his brother’s wedding.
Having then failed to return to prison, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, but he remained at large, with speculation that he may have fled the country.
The trial continued in his absence, with jurors unaware of the reason he was not in the dock.
In August, he was the only defendant to be convicted over the Elbit raid in that trial, it can now be reported for the first time.
The jury deliberated for 37 hours to find Middlebrough guilty of criminal damage by a majority of nine to one.
The jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts in relation to the other seven defendants who now face a retrial in June 2028.
Middlebrough was accused over a separate alleged offence with another defendant who went on trial alone in September.
The earlier trial had heard that none of the eight was at the scene at the time of the Elbit raid but their plans included compiling an equipment list, reconnaissance, and purchasing tools and weapons used by others, jurors were told.
Each was said to be “equally responsible” for what happened by planning the attack and ensuring it was executed so “the maximum amount of damage was caused” and “to shut Elbit down for as long as possible”.
Middlebrough was accused of transferring £890 to another person to buy kit including head torches, rucksacks, sledgehammers, hammers, safety goggles, helmets and a bolt cutter.
He was also said to be among those who travelled to Bristol where two rendezvous points had been booked at a campsite and an Airbnb.
They arrived on August 4 and left the Bristol area in the hours after the raid two days later, the court had heard.
All eight defendants had denied wrongdoing.
The prosecution was allowed until September 14 to consider whether to seek a retrial for the remaining seven defendants.
At the hearing on Monday, Judge Patrick Field lifted a reporting restriction on naming Middlebrough as the defendant who was convicted in the case.
He said the retrial of his co-accused would take place from June 19 2028 at Woolwich Crown Court with a time estimate of up to eight weeks.
However, Judge Field said he was “not satisfied” with the 2028 date and would try to secure an earlier one.
In another trial earlier this year, four other Palestine Action supporters were jailed after being found to have been in an old prison van when it crashed into the Elbit Systems site, causing £1.2 million of damage.
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