Four Palestine Action activists walk free from court after jury refuses to convict them

In Bradford Crown Court, a two-week trial ended against four Palestine Action activists, with the jury on Friday 13 September refusing to convict them of charges of ‘criminal damage’ after they shut down an Israel-supplying military electronics firm in April 2024.

Palestine Action: a jury concurs, kind of

The jury had been out for deliberations since 2:30pm on 11 September, after the trial commenced on 3 September. The Palestine Action activists will now face a retrial.

The ‘Shipley Four’ occupied the premises of ‘Teledyne Defence and Space’, at Airedale House, Shipley, for over 14 hours on 2 April, six months into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, to prevent its manufacture of weapons parts used for war crimes.

For the duration of the occupation, Palestine Action activists used sledgehammers to break apart the site – smashing the roof, windows, and the interior premises – with damage of £571,383 alleged in Court:

This damage was purposeful; intended to halt Teledyne Shipley’s manufacture of missile parts for Israel’s war machine. The site, between 2009 and 2014, was granted at least 86 licenses for the export of weapons to Israel – mostly for ‘ML11’-category military electronics equipment, and ‘ML4’ category explosive weapons, munitions, or parts therefor.

Teledyne: complicit in, and profiting from, Israel’s genocide

After 2014, the company’s sales and licensing was handled by the parent company ‘Teledyne UK’, which continued to export vast quantities of ML4 and ML11 weapons to Israel as part of its 48 export licenses granted between 2014 and 2020.

The American company Teledyne has a $5.6bn yearly turnover and is, along with its subsidiary ev2, the largest exporter (by volume of licenses granted) of weaponry from Britain to Israel. A significant proportion of the company’s almost 200 export licenses for weapons and weapons parts to the US, 2009-2020, will also form into finished products ultimately exported to Israel.

Teledyne Defence and Space, Shipley, manufactures key components for missile systems – specifically missile filters – which will comprise the ML4 exports made yearly from the site. Teledyne Defence and Space boasts of its involvement with missile products procured by Israel including the AGM-Harpoon, AIM-120 AMRAAM, and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles deployed by Israel against Gaza – the latter reportedly being used to strike Al-Shifa hospital.

Teledyne Defence and Space also produces components for the American’s Tomahawk and Patriot missiles, deployed by US forces against Yemen. The Shipley site also produces parts, including filters and multi-function assemblies, for UAVs (drones) and aircraft, along with radar systems including the AN/APG-81 (AESA) type fitted in Lockheed Martin F-35 Fighter jets

A necessary action

Following their arrest, one of the four Palestine Action activists was remanded in prison for one month, and another remanded for three months.

While one of the four self-represented throughout the trial, the other three opted to dismiss their counsel following the conclusion of evidence – and the judge’s decision to deny them all of their defences.

While making closing speeches, the activists reminded jurors of their right to acquit according to their conscience. When the judge was asked for clarification on this by the jury, she told the jury that no one is able to direct the jury to convict but they must follow the legal directions which rule out any lawful excuse for the action taken.

Subsequently, they refused to return a verdict. Despite the lack of public interest in pursuing the prosecution, a retrial is expected to happen in February 2026.

In their evidence, the Palestine Action activists spoke of the necessity of taking action against Israel’s crimes, and particularly in Britain – which fostered the Zionist project and continues to arm it. One activist, Ruby Hamill, 20, stated:

This country has had a hand in these crimes from the beginning and it is therefore our duty to stop them. We acted on the 2nd April out of necessity. Lives and property were on the line. We acted in defence of both, not to the contrary as accused. And in doing so we gave hope.

I hope to continue to be a part of a movement that was giving people in such depraved circumstances a bit of hope, hope that the self-proclaiming democracies would listen to the citizens, despite not listening to the millions weekly on the streets, choosing to demonise us instead. Hope that systems of oppression and companies like Teledyne would suffer financially and fall.

Palestine Action: it could be any of us

A second Palestine Action activist testified that they were motivated to act upon seeing images of a boy in Gaza, carrying parts of his brothers’ corpse in his backpack – with the brother dismembered by missiles possibly contributed to by Teledyne.

This recalled, for them, how their family members were slaughtered as children by Japanese forces:

I know that the families targeted by the missiles Teledyne Defence and Space are involved with could have looked like mine and their Grandchildren could be standing in my very place.

Another Palestine Action activist, Syed Najim Shah, also commented on these motivations, having seen unbearable reports of the torture of children – which is something he has seen from Israel dating back decades, including to the murder of children in Sabra and Shatila exactly 42 years ago.

Another activist, Daniel Jones, commented that at the time of the action, Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza was under siege – babies lying dead in incubators as a result. The damage caused to Teledyne, Shipley, intended to halt the flow of arms to Israel and protect human life.

The CPS has said it will re-try the case against the Palestine Action activists.

Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action