A report by the BBC’s legal correspondent Dominic Casciani was published on the BBC News website’s “UK” and “Bristol” pages on Nov. 18 under the headline “‘Palestine Action activist hit officer with hammer.”
That article relates to on an ongoing trial, stating:
An alleged Palestine Action member attacked a police officer with a sledgehammer, fracturing her back, during an organised break-in at an Israeli defence firm, a court has heard.
Woolwich Crown Court was told that six people accused of breaking in to Elbit Systems near Bristol had meticulously planned the incident on 6 August 2024 to cause as much damage as possible to the factory.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are jointly accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.
Casciani’s report includes accounts of the August 2024 events as presented to the court:
Footage played in the opening address was said to show Zoe Rogers brandishing and swinging a sledgehammer in front of a security guard, Angelo Volante.
He also said he had been whipped by Charlotte Head and threatened with a saw by Leona Kamio.
Eventually he retreated – but later returned with the police. As he led officers into the factory, video played to the jury on Tuesday was said to show Ms Kamio raising her sledgehammer over her head and bringing it down towards him.
She was then tasered – but continued to resist arrest. The video is then said to show Samuel Corner approaching Sgt Evans and striking her back with a sledgehammer.
“Having hit her once, he raised the sledgehammer again and hit her with it a second time,” said Ms Heer.
“Fortunately, Sgt Evans was wearing a stab vest which may have absorbed the force of the impacts. Nevertheless she screamed in pain as she felt the force of the blows.
“She was immediately terrified that her spine had been damaged and when she tried, she was unable to get up.”
Sgt Evans suffered a fractured vertebrae and was unable to work for three months. Due to the ongoing impact of the injury, she has been confined to restricted duties.”
Readers may recall that almost exactly a year ago, BBC London published a puff-piece devoted to promotion of emotional narratives presented by the mothers of two of the defendants, including the one seen in the footage “brandishing and swinging a sledgehammer in front of a security guard.” It had reported:
“The idea of my daughter being branded a terrorist just fills me with horror,” Clare [Rogers] said.
She added: “Someone who believes so passionately in justice, is lamenting the deaths of innocent civilians and children. To be called a terrorist?
“That really disgusts me.
“It makes me very angry and it worries me about the future of activists in this country, and the expression of free speech.” …
“She is someone who is very loving and very shy,” Clare says of her daughter.
“She thinks very deeply and cares very deeply about social justice. She started to see what was unfolding in Gaza and that became a huge part of her life.” […]
Sukaina Rajwani is from Merton in south London. Her daughter Fatema Zainab was also arrested and charged as part of the same operation, and is also being held without bail.
“I believe the counter-terrorism legislation was used to intimidate and scare them and used as an excuse to keep them for longer,” she told BBC London.
“I honestly thought she would get bail because she doesn’t have a criminal record or convictions. She met all the bail conditions.
“She is literally a baby for me. She had only just turned 20 a week before.”
In February 2025, the BBC News website published a report tagged “freedom of expression” amplifying the opinions of a “UN expert” on the topic of the detention of the same “protesters.”
While CAMERA UK has been documenting the BBC News website’s longstanding failure to provide its readers with the full range of information concerning the extremist group Palestine Action for years, Dominic Casciani’s report highlights the way in which that editorial policy has compromised the ability of the BBC’s funding public to fully understand stories relating to that recently proscribed organization and its supporters.