Charges dropped against pro-Palestine activists accused of intimidating jurors

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Jennifer Moy, 55, Susan Hampton, 70, Claire Marris, 63, Richard Warren, 68, Adrian Cadbury, 38, and Moshe Dixon, 25, were all accused of obstructing or disrupting jurors during a protest outside Woolwich Crown Court in April.

It was said that they refused to comply with public order instructions issued by the Metropolitan Police, “trespassed” on to court land, and “displayed signage and chanting which intimidated and deterred the jurors of the ongoing trial.”

The charges stemmed from April 29, when supporters had gathered outside the south-east London courthouse during the trial of Palestine Action activists who were accused over a raid on an Israeli defence contractor’s factory.

All six denied charges of obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity and being a public assembly participant failing to comply with condition at a hearing in June, and were due to appear again in court today.

But the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the charges, in a decision which court records show was rubber-stamped at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

At a hearing last month, prosecutor Robert Simpson indicated that the CPS had taken a provisional view that there “isn’t a realistic prospect of conviction” in this case.

The court heard that no evidence had been put forward to support the proposition that the defendants were actually on private land.

The Metropolitan Police was given until the end of August to deliver more evidence to support the criminal charges.

The defendants were on unconditional bail during the criminal proceedings.

At the trial in Woolwich, Palestine Action activists Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 24, Leona Kamio, 31, and Fatema Rajwani, 22, were convicted of criminal damage over a raid at the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.

The case was marked by regular protests by supporters outside the courthouse, with the demonstrations often spilling out on to the road because of the number of people taking part.

The convicted defendants are mounting an appeal against their sentences, after they were jailed for a crime that the judge concluded had a “terrorist connection.”

The CPS has been contacted for comment on the abandoned prosecution over the April 29 demonstration.