Anti-Israel hooligans struck a security guard with a sledgehammer, causing spinal injuries — and now they face the courts.

Members of Palestine Action, a pro-Hamas group that had been banned in the United Kingdom the previous year, broke into a factory of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems near Bristol in August 2024. They were found not guilty of aggravated burglary, but a retrial was called because the jury was undecided about other charges.

All the defendants but one presented evidence at the first trial, saying that they broke into the building with sledgehammers, but had not “in any circumstances intended to injure security staff” with the hammers. Prosecutors accused the group of swinging sledgehammers at the security guards, swearing at them and striking them. The defense attorney said that the defendants were surprised to encounter the guards and were “completely out of their depth.”

The six activists participated in a hunger strike while in prison.

At the time, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court deliberated for more than 36 hours but failed to reach a verdict on the other charges, which included a charge of criminal damage against all six and a charge of violent disorder against the three who were not among those found not guilty of that charge.

One of the six was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent after an alleged assault on a security guard, but the jury failed to reach a verdict in this case as well.

The conclusion of the trial drew criticism from British Jewish advocacy groups such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which expressed dismay over the precedent the lax verdict would set in cases of attacks against Jews and Jewish-owned businesses.

Samuel Corner, a 23-year-old defendant in the case, told the court that he charged in with a sledgehammer because he heard someone screaming and thought one of his companions was hurt. More than two years later, the officer still suffers from a fractured spine and can’t return to full duties.

“It seemed reasonable to do something, and I had to act quickly,” Corner said at trial, though he acknowledged that the officer wasn’t in fact hurting anyone and that, upon reflection, he admitted he took extreme action.

Let’s hope he gets the verdict he deserves.