From GB News, and thanks to RH for pointing me to it.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has suggested a pro-Palestine activist who broke a police officer’s spine with a sledgehammer should not go to prison.
Mr Polanski described the custodial sentence handed to Samuel Corner, 23, as “gut-wrenching” after the ex-Oxford student was banged up for seven years and eight months after appearing at Woolwich Crown Court earlier today. (yesterday, Friday 12th)
Corner, who was sentenced alongside three other Palestine Action activists, was convicted of criminal damage and inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant after hitting her with a seven-pound sledgehammer.
The Green Party leader said: “Gut-wrenching to see four young people jailed for direct action against an arms supplier to Israel. Years in prison for protesting to save lives in Gaza, with ‘terrorism’ used despite no jury convicting them of it.” It wasn’t a ‘protest’; it was criminal damage plus a potentially deadly assault.
Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were all convicted of criminal damage after breaking into an Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.
Corner’s actions against a female police officer have left a lasting impact on those who responded to the harrowing events in August 2024.
Sgt Kate Evans was on her knees trying to arrest Rogers (Zoe Rogers – found not guilty of criminal damage) when she was struck by Corner, suffering a fractured spine as a result of the blow.
She held back tears as she read an impact statement to the court, revealing she was still receiving medical treatment and had been forced to give up her rank.
Mr Polanski faced fury in February after a jury initially acquitted the group of Palestine Action activists of any wrongdoing.
Tiffany Lynch, the general secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales, signed a letter alongside Avon & Somerset branch chair Tom Gent.
The policing duo criticised the Green leader for failing to “express concern for that officer’s welfare”, adding: “That omission matters.”
One Response
Karma.