A Palestine Action activist who hit a police officer with a sledgehammer has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.
Samuel Corner, 23, previously denied both charges of grievous bodily harm with intent and criminal damage after carrying out a raid at an Israel-based defence firm in Bristol on August 6, 2024.
Corner, a former Oxford student, hit officer Kate Evans twice on the back with a seven-pound sledgehammer, fracturing her spine.
Mr Justice Johnson told the activist he had used "extreme and gratuitous force against a vulnerable police officer acting in the course of her duties".
Earlier today, the judge ruled a group of Palestine Action activists caused £1.2million of damage at Elbit Systems' factory, all of whom have been thrown behind bars for a total of 22 years.
Donning red boilersuits, the group used an old prison van to break into the estate and then used sledgehammers and crowbars to smash defence equipment, including drones.
Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani were found guilty of criminal damage last month after raiding the compound.
Head, who drove the van into the compound, was jailed for five years, while Kamio was given a five-year-long sentence. Rajwani has been thrown behind bars for four years and eight months.
The officer was attacked with a sledgehammer
|The judge said the activists had "decided to take matters into (their) own hands" after accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
He added that the group was "reckless" about those who could be injured. He stressed that two activists had posted the raid online in a bid to "glorify criminality and vigilantism".
During the sentencing, raucous supporters of the defendants jeered and banged on the door to the court. Rajwani and Head were sobbing as the judge served justice.
More than 100 pro-Palestine activists were arrested outside the court on suspicion of supporting a proscribed terror group.
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More than 100 pro-Palestine activists were arrested outside the court
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The judge continued: "Each defendant agreed to take part in high-level actions and did so with the shared aim of shutting down Elbit and ending what they regarded as British complicity in Israeli war crimes.”
"I’m satisfied the action was designed to influence the UK Government and also to intimidate a section of the public and was for the purpose of advancing an ideological or political cause."
PC Evans read her impact statement this morning, telling the court that she had to give up her rank of sergeant following the traumatic aftermath of the attack.
Two years on, she is still receiving treatment for the trauma inflicted on her body.
She told the court: "The emotional impact of this incident has been profound and ongoing. I experience disturbed sleep, often waking in a panicked state or after distressing dreams."
The officer explained that she had been trolled online, receiving hate mail online. She was accused of "working for the Zionist occupation of Britain".
Mr Johnson previously announced that he would sentence the group today since the damage was carried out with a "terrorist connection".
He added that all defendants were "well aware of the underlying sentiment and aims and strategies of Palestine Action".