Palestine Action activist on run convicted over raid on Israel-linked weapons factory

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Sean Middlebrough, 34, of Liverpool, was one of eight people accused of organising an attack on Elbit Systems’ factory in Filton, near Bristol, in August 2024.

The break-in happened 10 months before the group was banned by the government under counter-terrorism powers.

He absconded last October after being granted bail to attend his brother's wedding and it is speculated he may have fled the country.

The two-month trial began this summer in his absence and in August he was found guilty of criminal damage by a majority of nine to one.

He was the only defendant to be convicted over the Elbit raid in that trial, it can now be reported for the first time.

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The jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts in relation to the other seven defendants who now face a retrial in June 2028.

The earlier trial had heard that none of the eight was at the scene at the time of the Elbit raid but their plans included compiling an equipment list, reconnaissance, and purchasing tools and weapons used by others.

Each was said to be “equally responsible” for what happened by planning the attack and ensuring it was executed so “the maximum amount of damage was caused” and “to shut Elbit down for as long as possible”.

During the break-in protestors ploughed the van into Elbit's factory and proceeded to destroy as much equipment as they could find, including military drones they believed were destined for Gaza.

Middlebrough was accused of transferring £890 to another person to buy kit including head torches, rucksacks, sledgehammers, hammers, safety goggles, helmets and a bolt cutter.

He was also said to be among those who travelled to Bristol where two rendezvous points had been booked at a campsite and an Airbnb.

They arrived on August 4 and left the Bristol area in the hours after the raid two days later, the court had heard.

All eight defendants had denied wrongdoing.

The prosecution was allowed until September 14 to consider whether to seek a retrial for the remaining seven defendants.

At the hearing on Monday, Judge Patrick Field lifted a reporting restriction on naming Middleborough as the defendant who was convicted in the case.

Reporting of Middlebrough's conviction was delayed because of a separate prosecution in which he and another man were accused of conspiring to spray paint the word 'Palestine' at Boris Johnson's wedding celebration in 2022.

He said the retrial of his co-accused would take place from June 19 2028 at Woolwich Crown Court with a time estimate of up to eight weeks.

However, Judge Field said he was “not satisfied” with the 2028 date and would try to secure an earlier one.

In another trial earlier this year, four other Palestine Action supporters were jailed after being found to have been in an old prison van when it crashed into the Elbit Systems site, causing £1.2 million of damage.