Intruders sprayed guard with extinguisher, court hears

Palestine Action activists attacked a guard and sprayed him with a fire extinguisher during a break-in at a factory associated with an Israel-linked defence firm, a court has heard.

Security guard Billy Dennis told jurors intruders smashed the windows of a Land Rover and that he was "struck in the face" during the early morning raid on Instro Precision in Sandwich, Kent, on 17 June, 2024.

Nine men and women are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of criminal damage, burglary with intent and violent disorder. They deny the charges.

The defendants were said to be members or supporters of Palestine Action, which had targeted Instro Precision for its links to Elbit Systems.

Dennis told jurors on Monday he was driving a white Land Rover belonging to employers Mark One Security when he saw people cutting through an inner security fence at about 03:20 BST.

The court heard he saw 15 to 20 people in two teams, one in black and one in red, "carrying hammers, hatchets, fireworks, spray bottles, fire extinguishers".

They were wearing masks, goggles and hats, he said.

Dennis said: "I exited my vehicle and shouted in their direction, 'You have no implied right of access, you need to leave.'

"They continued to cut through the fence."

Dennis told the court he drove the Land Rover towards the fence to stop people going through the gap.

"Once the vehicle had stopped I was surrounded, and some of the vehicle's windows were smashed," he said.

Dennis' bodycam footage appeared to show black masked figures smashing the Land Rover's windscreen.

He told the court shattering glass cut his face and he was subjected to "verbal threats and abuse".

"I was sprayed with a fluid that I was told was acid," he said.

Henry Blaxland KC, defending Hannah Davidson, asked whether his recollections were correct after the footage was examined.

Dennis replied: "It's my account that I was sprayed, whether the evidence is there or not, I don't know...

"I don't know whether I was sprayed or not."

He told the jury he remembered being struck in the face but "whether that was with an object or not, I don't know."

Bodyworn footage of Dennis' phone call to police was played to the court, during which he can be heard saying "someone's held a knife to my throat".

Blaxland told jurors this was a "lie" and did not feature in his subsequent accounts.

Dennis said: "It wasn't a lie, it was what I thought happened."

The footage also showed people in red boiler suits smashing property inside the factory with sledgehammers as Dennis and fellow guard Michael Robins confronted them.

Dennis told the court he tried to reason with them.

"This was met with violence, verbal abuse, physical abuse, being sprayed with a fire extinguisher," he said.

The guard said he and Robins backed off, as they feared "serious harm".

The footage showed the guard, with other security personnel, chasing people in red boiler suits as they left while shouting: "You're terrorists."

Dennis said he detained two people, and the guard could be heard on video asking intruders who "wants it now?"

He told the jury: "I was irate. I was upset my colleagues had been hurt and the fact they thought this was acceptable behaviour."

The prosecution allege the black team were there to overwhelm the guards, so the red team could enter the building and "smash up as much property as they could".

The nine men and women on trial allegedly included members of the red team, one of the black team and others who helped at the perimeter and with travel and other arrangements.

The defendants are: Julija Brigadirova, 34, from Manchester; Nasser Akhtar, 39, of Crystal Palace; Elliot Wilson, 26 from Liverpool; Maximillian Dixon, 31, of Brockley, south-east London; Nirad Abrol, 27, of Birmingham; Seirol Davies, 31, from Plymouth; Xavi Davies, 23, of Binfield, Berkshire; Eoin O'Meara, 36, of Bristol; and Hannah Davidson, 53, of Edinburgh.

The trial continues.

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