Six more people in court over alleged Palestine Action break-in at Israeli defence firm

Six people have appeared at the Old Bailey charged with offences relating to break-ins which were claimed by Palestine Action, the campaign group recently banned under terrorism legislation.

The six defendants are accused of taking part in an alleged August 2024 break-in at Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence firm.

The incident played a key role in the Home Secretarys order banning Palestine Action last month.

There are now 24 people accused of offences relating to the Elbit Systems break-in.

Louie Adams, 33, of north London, Harland Archer, 20, of Whitstable in Kent, Finn Collins, 19, also of Whitstable, Moiz Ibrahim, 27, of west London, Salaam Mahmood, 19, of south-east London and Liam Mullany, 33, of Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, are now jointly accused of three charges with the first 18 other defendants.

Prosecutors allege the group committed aggravated burglary with the assistance of sledgehammers, and criminal damage of more than £1m at Elbits Bristol facilities. The defendants are further charged with violent disorder.

Fridays six were remanded in custody to next appear in court on 12 December for a plea hearing.

The first 18 defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, are preparing for trials at various dates, beginning in November.

A group of protesters gathered outside the London court as the case was being heard.

The six people who appeared in court on Friday are the latest to be charged over the incident following a series of raids by Counter Terrorism Policing South East.

Prosecutors said the alleged offences had a "terrorist connection".

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb explained the crown court did not have the capacity to conduct a trial with more than six co-defendants in custody at the same time.

This meant the earliest date for a fourth trial, involving the six defendants who appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, was in 2027, but efforts would be made to bring it forward, she said.

A plea hearing has been set at Woolwich Crown Court for 12 December.

In a separate case, a man appeared in court on Friday over charges related to a break-in at RAF Brize Norton in June. That incident was also claimed by Palestine Action.

Muhammad Umer Khalid, 22, is the fifth person to be charged in connection with that break-in, which police say caused £7m of damage.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Government on 5 July this year.

The global human rights campaign group Amnesty International has launched an unprecedented "urgent action" against the UK, calling on supporters to lobby the British government over arrests relating to the Palestine Action ban.

The campaign asks supporters around the world to pressure British prosecutors to abandon trials of up to 700 people. In each case the individuals have been accused of supporting the banned group by taking part in peaceful sit-in protests around the country.

The group says it only launches such actions where it believes that there is an "urgent need for intervention" to stop human rights violations or abuses against an individual or group - and for decades it was used to lobby despotic regimes to free political prisoners. This is the first time such an urgent action has been targeted at the UK.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has defended the ban, saying some supporters "dont know the full nature" of the group, and stressing it was "not a non-violent organisation".

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