Video footage shows the moment Palestine Action supporters broke into a factory associated with an Israel-linked defence company, a court has heard.
Nine people are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of criminal damage, burglary with intent and violent disorder during the early morning raid on Instro Precision in Sandwich, Kent, on June 17 2024.
The defendants were said to be members or supporters of Palestine Action which had deliberately targeted Instro Precision for its association with Elbit Systems, an Israeli-linked defence company.
Security guard Billy Dennis told jurors on Monday that he “saw people cutting through the fence” at around 3.20am.
He told jurors that he saw 15 to 20 people in two teams, one in black and one in red, “carrying hammers, hatchets, fireworks, spray bottles, fire extinguishers”, adding they were “wearing masks and goggles, hats, anything to obscure their identity”.
Mr Dennis told the court: “As they haven’t yet breached the fence, my authority to ask them to leave was questionable, so I exited my vehicle and shouted in their direction: ‘You have no implied right of access, you need to leave.’
“They continued to cut through the fence.
“In an attempt to prevent any further damage, I drove the white Land Rover towards the fence in an attempt to block the hole they had created to prevent them from entering the site.
“Once the vehicle had stopped I was surrounded, and some of the vehicle’s windows were smashed through, mostly with blunt objects.”
Body-worn footage from Mr Dennis shows black masked figures smashing the windscreen of the Land Rover.
Palestine Action intruders smashing a car windscreen during a break-in (CPS/PA)
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Mr Dennis said he felt blood on his face, telling the court “the glass as it shattered, it cut my face”.
Mr Dennis told jurors that the break-in was “incredibly noisy and disorientating”, adding: “There was one male, he told me to give him my bodycam and my radio also.
“I remember what I replied, it was: ‘Let me have some protection at least.’
“I definitely remember being struck in the face, whether that was with an object or not, I don’t know.”
Body-worn footage from Mr Dennis’s phone call to police was played, in which he can be heard saying “I’ve got one of their hammers”, and discussing his movements, the guard told jurors he was “probably trying to run for my life”.
The body-worn footage then appeared to show people wearing red boiler suits smashing up property inside the factory with sledgehammers as Mr Dennis and fellow security guard Michael Robins confronted them.
A confrontation inside the factory (CPS/PA)
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Mr Dennis told the court: “In an attempt to get them to stop damaging property, I tried to reason with them, to understand what they wanted.
“This was met with violence. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, being sprayed with a fire extinguisher.”
Describing the appearance of Mr Robins, Mr Dennis said he “looked like he’d been beaten up, he was covered in red paint and looked like he’d seen a ghost”, adding that his fellow guard had thrown up after the incident.
The guard said he and Mr Robins then “backed off” and told the court: “I genuinely thought they were going to cause us some serious harm if we didn’t.”
Video footage showed Mr Dennis, accompanied by three other security personnel, pursuing people in red boiler suits as they left the factory while shouting that they were “f****** terrorists”.
Mr Dennis said he detained two people and the guard could be heard on video footage telling intruders: “Who f****** wants it now?”
Asked why he had made that comment, Mr Dennis said: “I was irate, I was upset my colleagues had been hurt and the fact they thought this was acceptable behaviour.”
Video footage from outside the factory showed Mr Dennis moving towards intruders with an object in his hand as he shouted “f****** come on then”.
Asked why he said this, the guard told jurors: “Sometimes you might have to escalate to de-escalate.
“Although they are leaving they are still armed. Until they are unarmed, they are still a threat.”
Footage from outside the factory (CPS/PA)
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After footage of the guard pursuing intruders while raising a large object was shown in court, Mr Dennis told jurors he had made “contact” with two people with the object, which he described as a “rubber handle”.
Mr Dennis said he struck defendant Xavi Davies on his backpack, adding: “I wanted to strike him where the impact would be less hurtful.
“I stand by my choices I done that night.”
The guard said he did not “go to work wanting to cause harm to people”, adding he was “fearing for his life” and had acted “by going hands on, unfortunately, which is a last resort”.
Mr Dennis told jurors: “When I see someone standing next to my colleague with a weapon, I will put them on the floor every single time.”
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Mr Robins described how he had been sprayed with red paint out of view of cameras before entering the building.
He told jurors how he had gone after six members of the red-clad team to “prevent further damage”.
Asked what he and Mr Dennis had been trying to do, Mr Robins said: “Allow them to stay in there and try to calm the situation.”
Mr Robins told jurors how he later began to feel the effects of being sprayed, saying he had experienced “breathing difficulties and a burning sensation”.
Prosecutors allege the black team were there to “overwhelm” security guards, enabling the red team to enter the building and “smash up as much property as they could and to keep smashing until they were stopped”.
The nine men and women on trial allegedly included members of the red team, one of the black team and others who helped at the perimeter and with travel and other arrangements.
The defendants are: Julija Brigadirova, 34, from Manchester; Nasser Akhtar, 39, of Crystal Palace; Elliot Wilson, 26 from Liverpool; Maximillian Dixon, 31, of Brockley, south-east London; Nirad Abrol, 27, of Birmingham; Seirol Davies, 31, from Plymouth; Xavi Davies, 23, of Binfield, Berkshire; Eoin O’Meara, 36, of Bristol; and Hannah Davidson, 53, of Edinburgh.
They deny the charges against them as the trial continues.