However Zoe Rogers could still face a retrial on charge of criminal damage for which the jury failed to reach a verdict

Clare and Zoe together before Zoe’s detention — Zoe Rogers (centre) with mum Clare (left)

A Southgate woman is among a group of six Palestine Action activists to be acquitted yesterday (Wednesday 4th) of aggravated burglary against the UK subsidiary of an Israeli defence firm.

Zoe Rogers, aged 22, was part of a group which raided the Filton, Gloucestershire premises of Elbit Systems in August 2024, as part of their ongoing campaign calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the export of weapons to Israel.

All six of the pro-Palestine activists have been cleared of the aggravated burglary charge, following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, and Rogers was one of three defendants to also be cleared of violent disorder.

However, the jury could not reach a verdict on charges of criminal damage against all six defendants and violent disorder on the other three, despite deliberating for 36 hours.

One defendant, 23-year-old Samuel Corner, was also charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, having been accused of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer during the raid, but the jury also failed to reach a verdict on this charge.

It means all six defendants could still face a retrial on the outstanding charges. Five of the group – excluding Corner – were released on bail last night.

Clare Rogers, mother of Zoe, spoke outside court yesterday to praise the activists and said they were “people of conscience” who “could not bear to see the images on their phones of the atrocities carried out by Israel in Gaza”.

She continued: “They tried every possible democratic route before they took this action. They went on marches, wrote to MPs, joined encampments.

“My daughter reached a point where she could see the government was not listening. She realised direct action against the weapons suppliers themselves was the only thing that was effective, and that’s when she joined Palestine Action.”

Palestine Action was last year proscribed by the government and supporting the group is now a criminal offence under terrorism laws, but the proscription was not in effect at the time of the Elbit Systems raid on 6th August 2024.

A spokesperson for campaign group Defend Our Juries, which has supported the six defendants in the case, said: “These verdicts are a huge blow to government ministers who have tried to portray Palestine Action as a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation.

“Despite government efforts to prejudice this trial, citing the allegations of violence to justify treating Palestine Action as ‘terrorists’, as if they were already proved, the jury which heard the evidence has refused to find the defendants guilty of anything, not even criminal damage.”

Last year Clare also wrote a piece for the Dispatch criticising the government’s response to the case. She wrote: “The use of counter-terrorist powers against activists is unprecedented. None of them were charged under the Terrorism Act, but the Crown Prosecution Service insists there is a ‘terrorist connection’, and the investigation is led by counter terrorist police.”

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