Four Palestine Action protesters who smashed their way into an Israeli-linked weapons factory carried out 'an act of terrorism', a judge ruled as he jailed the quartet today.

In a landmark case, Mr Justice Johnson said the raid on Elbit Systems in Bristol was an attempt to 'shut down' the company or influence the UK Government into blocking its operations.

Two of the defendants wept as the judge ruled they would be sentenced for carrying out an 'act of terrorism' - something the group and their supporters opposed given they were convicted of criminal damage and not terror offences.

The court heard the factory was targeted due to its weapons and technology being used in Gaza.

But the wanton violence caused £1.2 million worth of damage, left a police officer with a fractured back, and saw the Government subsequently define Palestine Action as a banned organisation.

Samuel Corner, a 23-year-old former Oxford student, was convicted of criminal damage along with three others, and was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm after he attacked Sergeant Kate Evans with a 7lb sledgehammer.

Corner was handed a sentence of seven years and eight months, while Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, each received sentences of five years, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, was jailed for four years and eight months.

The judge said the four 'sought to glorify criminality and vigilantism', and used 'extreme force and aggression'.

Outside the court, protesters blocked the prison van believed to be carrying the defendants by lying down in the road.

Dozens of police officers could be seen standing around the van, as some protesters banged on the side of the Serco vehicle.

Police had issued a dispersal order for the demonstration to finish at 7.25pm, but hundreds remained.

Officers could be seen with batons drawn while one shoved a protester after they tried to open the transport vehicle door.

At least 100 of the roughly 500 people supporting the quartet have been arrested by police for supporting a proscribed organisation. 

The judge said all the defendants were 'well aware of the underlying sentiment and aims and strategies of Palestine Action'.

He said: '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.'

He ruled: '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.'

The ruling means the activists will not qualify for early release from prison provisions, the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free, and they will face monitoring from counter terror policing in the future.

The Elbit raid in August 2024 was one of the triggers which caused the UK Government to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

The High Court later ruled the decision was unlawful, and Court of Appeal judges will decide on Monday whether or not to uphold that.

Mr Justice Johnson ruled last year in pre-trial hearings that the Elbit raid had a 'terrorist connection', and decided during a day-long hearing today to pass tougher sentences on the activists as a consequence.

The group said they wanted to dismantle drones and weaponry they believed would be used to kill people, and sought to justify their actions as being necessary to protect Palestinians.

But they were found guilty of criminal damage following a trial.

Head was behind the wheel of an old prison van that crashed through the gates of the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol on August 6 2024.

The four activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before ending up in a fight with security guards and police.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the attack was 'meticulously organised' to cause maximum damage and get information about the company.

The convictions followed a previous trial in which jurors acquitted the four - and two others - of aggravated burglary but could not reach verdicts on criminal damage charges.

Prosecutor Ms Heer KC told the sentencing hearing Palestine Action has ideological aims to 'influence government decisions and policies' in the UK and Israel.

She said the group had vowed to 'shut Elbit down' through direct action. She added that the defendants all hold the view that Elbit was aiding a genocide in Gaza.

She pushed for the judge to sentence the defendants for a crime with a 'terrorist connection'.

The police officer struck with the sledgehammer as she was on her knees during the attack said she still suffers from panic attacks and ongoing pain.

She has been forced to accept a demotion from Sergeant to the rank of Pc, and has received abuse on email over what happened.

Ms Evans told the court she felt 'dehumanised' by the first trial's outcome.

She said: 'I found this extremely difficult to process, particularly as the attack had been captured on CCTV and clearly showed I posed no threat.

'I struggled to understand how a verdict could not be reached given the evidence that had been presented in court.

'This left me feeling dehumanised, as though the impact on me did not matter because I am a police officer.'

A spokesman for the Avon and Somerset Police Federation, representing Ms Evans and other officers, said in a statement: 'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with.

'Samuel Corner is a violent criminal - and his actions have had devastating consequences for a courageous and dedicated police officer. 

'The sentence given to the perpetrator today is a semblance of justice. Our colleague Sgt Kate Evans will have life-lasting effects from this despicable attack.

'Fracturing a brave police officer's spine with a sledgehammer is not protesting a cause - it's pure evil.'