Skip to content

Alleged Palestine Action protesters deny charges

News imagePalestine Action A white van with yellow and orange hi-vis decals at night. There is a lot of smoke in the air and on the right there is a figure wearing all black and a white hard hat.Palestine Action
One defendant is accused of striking an officer across the back with his sledgehammer

Three alleged protesters from Palestine Action who are accused of breaking into a UK subsidiary of an Israeli defence firm and causing £1m worth of damage have denied the charges against them.

Finn Collins, from Whitstable, Salaam Mahmood, from Abbey Wood, London, and Liam Mullany, from Poole, pleaded not guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday to charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.

The prosecution alleges members of the group were armed with sledgehammers and whips at a break-in at the Elbit Systems site near Patchway, Bristol, in the early hours of August 6 2024.

Their next court date has yet to be established.

All three were arrested after a series of raids by Counter Terrorism Policing South East.

Palestine Action was proscribed by the government on 5 July.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.