Gaza protesters 'caused' £6.8k factory damage

Protesters caused almost £6,800 worth of damage to a factory over its alleged links to Israel and the Gaza conflict, a court has heard.

Two women scaled a roof at Pearson Engineering in Newcastle and staged an eight-hour stand off in February 2025 while a third tried to chain themselves to a truck, the city's crown court was told.

Hollie Mildenhall, 25, and Georgia Coote, 28, both from Newcastle, and Summer Oxlade, 29, from Houghton-le-Spring, each deny criminal damage.

David Guthrie, head of security at the site, said the factory made military equipment and the company was owned by an Israeli defence firm but had not supplied anything to the Israeli state.

The Armstrong Works site on Scotswood Road had been the target of multiple protests since 2023, the court heard.

At about 05:20 GMT on 18 February 2025, Mildenhall and Coote climbed on to the roof of the factory's gatehouse while Oxlade dumped rubble from a flatbed truck in the entrance before trying to chain herself to the vehicle, the court has heard.

The women on the roof sprayed red paint from fire extinguishers, cut through razor wire and smashed two illuminated panels of the firm's large sign, the court heard.

Two men dressed all in black also sprayed red paint at the building before fleeing, jurors have been told.

The women were cheered on by a group of supporters who had gathered near the site and it took eight hours for police to remove them from the roof, the court heard.

Cleaning away the red paint cost £700, repairing the damaged sign was £1,576 and the wire was £3,560, Guthrie said.

Some 72 staff hours also had to be used in the clean-up, costing a further £936.72, the court heard.

Guthrie said he understood the women, who were dressed in red overalls, were targeting the site to protest Israel's actions in Gaza.

He said the factory made military equipment, the supply of which was strictly controlled through export licences by the UK government.

Company records dating back to 2014 showed no equipment or machinery had been supplied to Israel.

The British authorities introduced a policy in 2024 which stated no UK firm should sell anything to Israel which could be perceived as being used in Gaza, Guthrie said.

In 2022 Pearson Engineering was bought by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, an Israeli defence company, although Guthrie was unsure of its connections to the Israeli government or state, the court heard.

In cross-examination on behalf of Oxlade, Mira Hammad showed the court Pearson Engineering's profile on Companies House.

The online document declared the firm was "wholly owned" by Government State Authorities, State of Israel, under the country's ministry of finance, with a correspondence address in Jerusalem, she said.

She asked if Guthrie was "aware" Israel's minister of finance had been "sanctioned by the UK government for inciting crimes against humanity and severe human rights abuses against Palestinian people".

Guthrie replied he was not.

Hammad said the engineering company had a £79m turnover in 2024 and made about £39m in profit, which would go to the shareholders, namely the Israeli government.

Guthrie said he had been told by the firm's finance director no profits had gone to Israel and the firm had invested £32m in increasing its workforce, factory space and manufacturing equipment.

When pressed by Hammad on what happened to profits, Guthrie said he was not the correct person to comment.

Hammad said an international arrest warrant had been issued for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "because of reasonable suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity".

She asked Guthrie if any discussions had been had within Pearson Engineering about its position in terms of "giving money" to a government whose head had a warrant out for them.

"Not to my knowledge," Guthrie replied.

Hammad said Pearson Engineering was Rafael's only manufacturing site in the UK, which Guthrie confirmed, and its brochure showed it made systems for tanks deployed on Israel's borders.

Guthrie said Pearson Engineering did not have the"clean high-tech" capability to make such systems so even though the brochure suggested the products were made in the UK, they had not been constructed at the Armstrong Works factory.

He also said he did not know if Rafael's UK branch had export licences with Israel.

The trial continues.

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