Jury discharged in £700,000 Palestine Action criminal damage trial

16 September 2024

Alexander McColl represented one of four defendants charged with criminal damage at Teledyne Defence and Space in Shipley, West Yorkshire, instructed by Nicola Hall of Robert Lizar Solicitors, alongside Audrey Mogan of Garden Court Chambers.

A jury has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict in the trial of four defendants charged with causing £700,000 in damage at the Teledyne site. The four occupied the roof of one of the buildings at the site and accepted that they had caused damage to the roof tiles over a period of 17 hours.

At trial, the defendants argued that they had acted in defence of the lives and property of Palestinians in Gaza, which they honestly believed were at immediate risk, and that they had to act to prevent a crime. The defendants believed that the site was being used to manufacture components for weapons that were to be exported for use by Israel in the commission of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. They believed that this in itself amounted to the aiding and abetting of a war crime and so argued that their actions amounted to a lawful excuse.

The judge heard legal argument on the scope of lawful excuse and ultimately withdrew all the available defences from the defendants. Nevertheless, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and was ultimately discharged on Friday.

This case has garnered significant public attention and has been reported by the BBC, being the first of its kind since the January ruling by the International Court of Justice on provisional measures in proceedings under the Genocide Convention in the case of South Africa v Israel.