Activist says sledgehammer attack 'seemed reasonable'

A Palestine Action activist who hit a police officer with a sledgehammer, fracturing her back, said it "seemed reasonable" at the time, a court has heard.

Samuel Corner, 23, denies charges of grievous bodily harm with intent and criminal damage following a raid at Elbit Systems UK, an Israel-based defence firm, near Bristol on 6 August 2024.

Corner told the court he struck Sgt Kate Evans after he heard "someone screaming" and feared his co-defendant was being injured by security.

Alongside Corner, Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are also on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of criminal damage.

Corner told jurors the sole intention of the break-in was to "shut Elbit down" by destroying weapons and damaging the factory.

He accepted the officer had posed no threat to him, and that in hindsight, his actions were extreme given the consequences.

Jurors heard Corner hit Sgt Evans as she was on her knees trying to arrest Rogers.

The officer suffered a fractured spine and remains on restricted duties at work.

Corner previously told the court he "would never want to seriously hurt anyone", and denied it was part of a plan to use violence against people during the raid.

The defendant said he now accepted Sgt Evans was not injuring anyone.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC asked him: "Did you hit her because you thought she was a security guard and she was complicit with Elbit?"

"No," Corner replied.

Heer asked: "Do you agree that, whatever you may have thought, it was completely unreasonable to hit Sgt Evans with a sledgehammer?"

He replied: "It seemed reasonable to do something and I had to act quickly."

In a character reference read to jurors, Corner's grandfather described him as a "gentle soul" who "cares deeply about the injustices in the world" and "finds any form of violence abhorrent".

The trial has heard the defendants used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones and other equipment.

The trial continues.

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