A jury has been discharged in the trial of eight Palestine Action activists accused of helping to organize a raid on the United Kingdom site of Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense firm. The jury at the Old Bailey was discharged by Judge Patrick Field after 37 hours of deliberations.
Ian Sanders, Aleksandra Herbich, Teuta Hoxha, Sean Middleborough, Julija Brigadirova, Hannah Davidson, Madeleine Norman, and William Plastow were initially charged with criminal damage following the August 2024 raid in Filton, near Bristol. Plastow was previously found not guilty of violent disorder, an additional charge faced by the other seven defendants.
The prosecution alleged that none of the defendants were present at the Elbit facility during the raid itself. Instead, they were accused of aiding in the planning stages, which included compiling an equipment list, conducting reconnaissance, purchasing tools and weapons for those who carried out the break-in, and coordinating the event and its filming.
The group denied all charges. Their trial at the Old Bailey began on June 22.
The Crown Prosecution Service will now determine whether to pursue a retrial. A hearing is scheduled for September 14 to address the future of the case. The eight activists on trial were listed with their ages and locations: Sanders, 47, of Leamington Spa; Herbich, 42, of Brent in northwest London; Hoxha, 30, of Southwark in southeast London; Middleborough, 34, of Liverpool; Brigadirova, 34, from Chorlton in Manchester; Davidson, 53, of Edinburgh; Norman, 31, of Edinburgh; and Plastow, 35, of Manchester.