Two city activists charged over rooftop protest

SIX people including two from Bristol have been charged with criminal damage after a rooftop protest at a factory which pro-Palestinian activists have claimed supplies engines for Israeli military drones.

Protesters from Palestine Action got on to the UAV Engines site in Shenstone near Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the early hours of Tuesday, the organisation said.

Red paint was daubed across the front of the building and windows smashed with hammers, in what protesters claimed was the fourth such protest at the plant since September.

Staffordshire Police said the six people charged with criminal damage were: Nicholas Georges, 69, of Hornhatch near Guildford, Surrey; Vienna Lstadt, 37, of The Avenue, West Ealing, west London; Nic Aaron, 31, of Linley Road, north London; Ruby Baker, 28, of Belmont Street, Bristol; Dexter Herd, 28, of Redland Road, Bristol; Michael Sackur, 23, of Mount Avenue, west London.

They are due to appear before magistrates on Thursday.

The plant, owned by Israeli firm Elbit Systems UK, has been repeatedly targeted by activists who claim the factory is involved in the supply of parts for drones used by the Israeli military against Palestinians.

In a statement , Palestine Action said the group, formed in August, would not rest until Elbit’s “chain of weapons factories are hounded out of the UK”.

The protest comes after the Ministry of Defence confirmed last month that Elbit had won a £102 million contract for a new “sensorto-shooter” surveillance system.