A police sergeant recounted a terrifying incident in court, describing how she feared for her life after a Palestine Action protester struck her with a sledgehammer, leading her to believe her spine might have been ‘shattered’, which could result in paralysis.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that Sergeant Kate Evans had been assaulted while attempting to detain another activist at a defense contractor’s facility in 2024.

The incident involved six activists who allegedly stormed the UK premises of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company, located near Bristol on August 6, 2024. The group reportedly vandalized property and engaged in violent confrontations with security personnel and police officers.

As detailed by the prosecution, Samuel Corner is accused of hitting Sergeant Evans with the sledgehammer while she was in a vulnerable position, trying to apprehend Zoe Rogers.

Both Corner and Rogers, along with fellow activists Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Fatema Rajwani, and Jordan Devlin, are currently facing trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

In her testimony on Friday, Sergeant Evans described the impact as a ‘thud’ that reverberated throughout her body, causing intense pain from her back down to her legs.

She said she had been ‘shocked’, ‘in disbelief’ and ‘scared’, adding: ‘I thought my spine could have been shattered from the impact, I didn’t know if I could move, whether I was paralysed at the time.’

Her colleague PC Peter Adams told the court that Corner hit Sergeant Evans with a ‘considerable amount of force’.

Samuel Corner allegedly hit Sergeant Kate Evans with a sledgehammer while she was trying to arrest another Palestine Action activist

Sergeant Evans had been trying to arrest Zoe Rogers, who broke into the UK factory of Israel-based defence firm Elbit Systems in 2024, a court heard

A protestor outside the defendants’ pre-trial hearing last June

PC Adams said he ‘heard her scream in pain from the impact’ and added Corner was ‘clearly a threat at that time’.

His colleague PC Aaron Buxton said he saw Corner raise the sledgehammer over his shoulder and strike Sergeant Evans, who made an ‘immediate noise of pain’.

He told jurors that Corner had previously swung the sledgehammer towards him ‘multiple times’ as he was on the floor struggling with Devlin.

The officer said he had felt ‘significant pain’ down his right calf, adding: ‘I was terrified in that situation, it’s not somewhere I expected to find myself and I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be from that.’

In the early hours of the morning the six defendants, dressed in red jumpsuits, crashed into the shutters outside the factory in a prison van driven by Head which was ‘used as a battering ram’, the court previously heard.

Once inside they destroyed computers and drones using sledgehammers and crowbars, spraying the walls and floor with red paint using fire extinguishers.

Prosecutors said the raid was ‘carefully planned’ with documents found on an encrypted site revealing it aimed to ‘shut Elbit down’, describing that aim as Palestine Action’s ‘primary objective’.

‘We can do that by sticking together and ensuring its destruction with our brain and muscle,’ the documents added.

Head, 30, Corner, 23, Kamio, 30, Rajwani, 21, Rogers, 22, and Devlin, 31, all deny criminal damage.

Corner faces a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Sergeant Evans, which he denies.

The trial continues.