Palestine Action members on trial at Bradford Crown Court

The video compilation, lasting more than 90 minutes, was drawn from CCTV footage, drones, and police officers’ body-worn cameras and showed Saeed Najam Shah, Daniel Jones, Ruby Hamill, and Julian Alan Gao using sledgehammers and crowbars to wreck the roof of Teledyne Defence & Space in Shipley.

Damage to the roof (Image: Newsquest)

The trial of the quartet, all members of the Palestine Action group, began at Bradford Crown Court before Her Honour Judge Sophie McKone today and is expected to last two weeks.

Shah, 51, of Reedley Road, Reedley, Burnley, Jones, 29, of Rossett Road, Crosby, Sefton, Hamill, 20, of Emu Road, Wandsworth, London, and Gao, 20, of Dalton Ellis Hall, Manchester, are all charged with criminal damage and having articles with intent to destroy/damage property, namely a quantity of sledgehammers, crowbars, and an adapted fire extinguisher on April 2 this year.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said the four targeted Teledyne, a company based at Airedale House in Acorn Park, which provides components for the defence and aerospace industries.

He said: “These components are used by companies in the manufacture of weapons used by the British Army, by NATO forces, and through British arms export licences issued by the British government, for weapons purchased by countries such as Ukraine and Israel.”

Shah, Jones, Hamill, and Gao used an angle grinder to cut through a perimeter fence on the Teledyne site in the early hours of April 2, the court heard. A security guard who spotted sparks in the darkness called the police at 5.11am.

But within 10 minutes the group, wearing rucksacks, had used a telescopic ladder to climb onto a walkway linking two two-storey buildings, and then scaled a sloping upper roof, the jury was told.

They refused to engage with police requests to negotiate or to come down to the ground.

There was a large emergency services presence (Image: Newsquest)

They would not state what their demands were, but officers soon realised that it was “a protest related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”.

Over the next 17 hours, they used sledgehammers and crowbars to smash roof tiles, breaking through into the building below, and to shatter windows, the court heard.

Drone footage showed Hamill sitting with her feet dangling through a large hole in the roof where the tiles had been ripped off.

Broken roof tiles were hurled through holes into the office space, and a sledgehammer was dangled on a rope to cause more damage, including to computer equipment. Angle grinder blades were found in the offices below.

The vandalism was described as “extensive” with the final cost put at £571,383.

They were seen smiling and laughing, clapping, waving, taking selfies, filming one another, unfurling Palestinian flags, and shouting to other protesters who turned up at the scene with a microphone and a sound system to cheer their support.

They were heard to chant “Don’t come down”. One of the protesters on the roof was heard to shout: “Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry.”

The three men donned red boiler suits. Hamill was seen walking around without footwear.

Police at the scene were joined by firefighters with an aerial pump, which remained at the scene for the duration of the protest as there were concerns that the building might be set on fire.

There was a large emergency services presence (Image: Newsquest)

Ambulance crews were also present as there were fears for the intruders’ safety.

Mr Hendron said: “As the defendants smashed the roofing they walked gingerly over the roof or shuffled on their bottoms. At some times some of the defendants swung tools with force close to the edge of the roof and the ground below, putting their own lives at risk.”

All four defendants were identified via stills taken from police drone footage.

When they eventually climbed down from the roof they were arrested and interviewed, but all four replied “no comment” to all questions.

The court was shown a pro-Gaza video statement made by Gao prior to the Shipley protest in which he said Teledyne produced missile heads and surveillance technology used by Israeli forces.

Pictured in front of a Palestinian flag, he said: “Our goal is simple: no more British weapons in the hands of Israeli soldiers.

“Britain has the ability to stop this genocide. If the government won’t do it, we’ll do it ourselves.

“We will end this genocide by any means necessary.

“My message to the imperialists and the war profiteers is this: you are not safe. Your days are numbered.”

The trial continues.