Levi JouavelWoolwich Crown Court
A police sergeant was left unable to drive, shower or dress after a Palestine Action activist allegedly hit her with a sledgehammer during a robbery at the premises of an Israeli defense company in the UK, a court has heard.
Six people are accused of using a prison van to break into the Elbit Systems UK factory near Bristol armed with weapons and pyrotechnics in the early hours of August 6 last year.
Sergeant Kate Evans told Woolwich Crown Court the injury left her in “intense pain”. He spent three months without working.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, deny all charges of aggravated robbery, criminal damage and violent disorder.
Corner denies further charges of causing grievous bodily harm to Sergeant Kate Evans.
Sergeant Evans said she was attempting to handcuff one of the accused at the scene when she felt a “thud” on her back.
“A huge jolt vibrated through my entire body. I had no idea what it was until I turned around and saw a man with a sledgehammer behind me,” he said.
“It was a shock, I felt frozen. It was almost like being in a movie, everything was going very fast.
“It just spread all over my body to my legs. I felt frozen.
“At first I was stunned. I didn’t know what it was. I remember looking around and seeing the man with the sledgehammer behind me.”
Sergeant Evans said she only remembered one punch, but her colleague Peter Adams said he saw Mr Corner hit her on the back twice.
PC Adams told the court: “I remember her screaming in pain and she fell to the ground on her back.”
PC Aaron Buxton was also at the incident and recalled the “blonde man”, who punched Ms Evans, brandishing a sledgehammer at him moments before.
He told the jury: “I was laid on my back with the brown-haired man on top of me. The blonde-haired man turned and walked towards us. “He swung the sledgehammer several times at me.
“I don’t know how many times it hit it because I was scared at the time. I think it made contact with my right calf and my working radio.
“I felt quite a bit of pain in that area of my leg after this. I also had some slight bruising.”
The court heard Sgt Evans was left with a large bruise on her back and an x-ray showed there was a fracture to her lumbar spine, leaving her unable to return to work for three months.
She described in a statement that she suffered “severe pain” in her back and legs, needed help with basic tasks such as bathing or lying down, and was unable to drive or sleep.
The six accused were arrested at the factory.
The court heard that Elbit Systems UK manufactures defense technology equipment and is a UK registered company whose parent company is based in Israel.
The trial is expected to last until January.
