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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   10412 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 2, 2026

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In 2024 several protestors in Bristol broke into an Elbit Systems defense factory with sledgehammers attempting to smash up the place. Police arrived and in the fracas one officer was hit in the back and seriously injured. They were acquitted on charges of aggravated burglary and partial or no verdicts were reached on criminal damage, violent disorder, and grievous bodily harm with intent.

Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were all acquitted of aggravated burglary by the jury after more than 36 hours of deliberation. Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder, while the jury could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio. The jury could also not reach verdicts on an additional charge of criminal damage. Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent for hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to agree a verdict on that count.

The defense argued that the action did not rise to the level of GBH with intent, which is defined as

“Whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously by any means whatsoever wound or cause any grievous bodily harm to any person with intent to do some grievous bodily harm to any person, or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person.”

For a Section 18 GBH charge to be proven, it must be shown that the offender physically caused the serious injuries and, at the same time as the assault took place, that this is what they intended to cause. It is the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime. For a case to be considered under Section 18, identifying reckless behaviour in the actions of the offender will not be sufficient enough to find an accused individual guilty. The act must be malicious in nature and deliberate, indicating malice aforethought often with a degree of premeditation.

Instead, Mr. Corner, an autistic man, was pepper sprayed, confused, and attempting to defend his comrade being restrained and arrested, so malicious intent was not present.

It should also be noted that protestors put up jury nullification signs around the trial.

Pretty sure a reasonable person would understand hitting someone with a sledgehammer would cause grievous injuries. Not happy the lawyer tried to sneak in weasel words like 'maliciousness' and 'degree of premeditation'. You don't need those things. Only intent. You can see the guy lift the hammer over his shoulder to lead up to the strike. This took seconds. I don't think he was confused or was flailing around blindly.

Love me some specific vs general intent. Did Corner intend to hit the police sergeant with the sledgehammer (general)? Almost certainly. Did he intend to do grevious bodily harm or resist or prevent a lawful apprehension or detainer (specific)? The jury couldn't agree one way or the other apparently. I'm not that familiar with UK law but the link for GBH seems to indicate a variety of lesser offenses I suspect Corner would have been convicted of.

"This person is too stupid to realize their actions could cause grievous bodily harm" seems like a weird reason to excuse someone from wrong doing and let them wander around free. It only seems just if they are otherwise institutionalized.

or with intent to resist or prevent the lawful apprehension or detainer of any person

Seems like this obviates the need for malicious intent. Do people not know what "or" means?

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