The $30 million damage bill

A group of Palestine Action activists who smashed up an Israeli-linked defence firm and left a female police officer severely injured have demanded a 'bias' judge be blocked from the case. The activists, who were found guilty of criminal damage and causing grievous bodily harm, are set to be sentenced next Friday.

However, they are planning to demand on Monday for the replacement of the judge at a hearing at the Old Bailey. Campaign group Defend Our Juries is also lodging a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, accusing the same judge of misconduct.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The activists, who justified their action as being necessary to protect Palestinians, rammed into the site using an old prison van before taking sledgehammers and crowbars to the company's equipment and property. The group are set to be sentenced next Friday, when Mr Justice Johnson is expected to consider whether their crime had a 'terrorist connection' and if they should be handed a longer prison term as a result.

However the defendants are planning to demand on Monday for the replacement of the judge at a hearing at the Old Bailey. Campaign group Defend Our Juries is also lodging a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office, accusing the same judge of misconduct.

A familiar pattern from the 2019 crash

Police sergeant Kate Evans told jurors at an earlier hearing how she believed her spine could have been 'shattered' and feared she may have been 'paralysed' after being hit by the activist. According to Defend Our Juries, supporters will hold placards at the demonstration in south-east London which read: Saving lives is not terrorism. I support Palestine Action.

Palestine Action was banned as a terrorist organisation by the State in Summer 2025, causing Mr Justice Johnson to rule at pre-trial hearings in November the charges in the case had a 'terrorist cnonection'. The judge also barred that ruling from being told to the juries who heard the case at a trial and a subsequent retrial.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

Yet the controversial move was declared unlawful by the High Court in February. Mr Justice Johnson may still consider a terror link to the raid on the Elbit factory when he passes sentence on June 12, in spite of the High Court ruling. Activists now believe they are about to be sentenced as terrorists, and argue it is unfair that the jury is kept ignorant of this given the potential consequence of this if they are found guilty of criminal damage.

Two co-defendants were found not guilty by the jury at the retrial of criminal damage, while they were cleared of violent disorder and aggrravated burglary charges.

The Senate's three-vote margin

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries accused the judge of bias and abuse of process, suggesting he had overseen a grave miscarriage of justice. Given the widespread concerns that have been raised, Justice Johnson should remove himself from these proceedings.

The use of secret terror sentencing for the first time in British history against protesters who sought to save lives by disrupting the supply of weapons to Israel demonstrates the dangerous consequences of Palestine Action's proscription. it makes a mockery of counter-terrorism legislation:those acting to prevent death and destruction are being treated as terrorists.