Pro-Palestinian protesters trial ends in hung jury

A jury in the trial of four pro-Palestine protesters who denied causing criminal damage to a factory in the West Midlands has been discharged after failing to reach verdicts.

The trial of Iain Evans, Hisham Alkhamesi, Hana Yun-Stevens and Frank Sherman, also known as Bea Sherman, ended in a hung jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday after jurors deliberated for 17 hours and seven minutes.

The four defendants all admitted breaking into the Moog factory, near Wolverhampton, in August but argued that their actions were not unlawful.

Prosecutors asked the court for time to reflect on whether to seek a retrial. All four defendants were given bail until a further hearing on 3 July.

The jurors were discharged after indicating to the judge that there was no prospect of them reaching majority verdicts in the case, even if given further time.

The panel of seven women and five men first retired last week and had deliberated over four days.

Discharging the jurors, High Court judge Mr Justice Wall thanked them for their service.

"Juries don't reach verdicts in every case. These things happen," he said.

Prosecutors alleged the defendants, who believed the business was involved in the supply chain to Israel, had no lawful excuse to act as they did.

Jurors had been instructed to consider whether each defendant played a part in causing damage to the factory in the Pendeford area and whether they intended to damage the property.

Machinery was exposed to potential rain damage, the court heard, when sections of roof were cut away using power tools.

Windows and hundreds of solar panels were also smashed.

During the defence case, the group said they had gone to the factory to put it out of action as they all believed the factory's operations to be "criminal".

The four defendants were:

• Evans, 33, of Saltaire in Shipley, West Yorkshire
• Alkhamesi, 23, of Burbage, near Hinckley, Leicestershire
• Yun-Stevens, 24, from London
• Sherman, 23, of Ditchling, East Sussex

Additional reporting by PA Media