Kit PetersGOWER: ‘My daughter could be sentenced as a terrorist for damaging drones’ — Pennard mum speaks out ahead of June sentencing
A Gower mother says she is frightened for her daughter’s future after learning she could be sentenced as a terrorist next month — despite never having been charged with a terrorism offence.
Emma Kamio, from Pennard, says her daughter Leona — known as Ellie — was convicted of criminal damage at the Filton, Bristol plant of Elbit Systems, an Israeli-owned defence technology company. Ellie Kamio, 30, is one of four people due to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 12 June.
The case has drawn significant attention after reporting restrictions, which had prevented the details from being publicly known, were lifted by a judge at Woolwich Crown Court.
The four defendants were convicted of damaging quadcopter drones inside Elbit Systems’ Bristol research and development facility. Under Section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020, a judge can apply a “terrorist connection” as an aggravating factor at sentencing — even where defendants have not been convicted of a terrorism offence.
Supporters of the four say the jury was not told this would apply when they returned their verdicts, and that had they known, they might have reached different conclusions.
A spokesperson for campaign group Defend Our Juries said: “The public will be astonished to learn that in the British justice system a protester can now be convicted of criminal damage for disrupting an arms factory, and then be sentenced as a ‘terrorist’ without having been convicted of terror charges and with this having been kept secret from the jury.”
The practical consequences of a terrorist connection finding at sentencing could be significant. The four defendants have already spent 18 months on remand — equivalent to nearly four years under standard sentencing guidelines, the upper limit for criminal damage.
With a terrorist connection applied, they would be required to serve their full sentence and could only be released early if a parole board was satisfied they had renounced their beliefs. Upon release, they could be placed on a terrorism licence for up to 15 years, requiring them to register new devices, bank accounts, emails and relationships with police.
Anti-war activist Angie Zelter, from Knucklas in Powys, who has previously been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, said the case was “of the utmost importance for the general public to be aware of.”
Mr Justice Johnson, who presided over the trial, ruled that the terrorist connection provision applied because the defendants were seeking to influence the Israeli government by restricting its access to weapons. The ruling has been disputed by the defendants’ supporters, who argue that a conscientious motive would normally be considered a mitigating factor rather than an aggravating one.
The judge also restricted what defence barristers could say to the jury during the trial. Five of the six defence barristers withdrew before closing speeches following those restrictions. A court order has now lifted the reporting ban on those events.
All defences on the charge of criminal damage were ruled inadmissible before evidence was heard, meaning the defendants were not permitted to argue that their actions were legally justified. Following the guilty verdicts, the prosecution did not apply to revoke bail — but the judge did so anyway, returning the defendants to prison, where they remain.
Elbit Systems describes itself as one of Israel’s largest defence electronics companies. The Filton facility is a research and development hub. The company has been the subject of sustained protest activity in the UK in recent years. The action for which the four were convicted took place before Palestine Action — a group associated with protests at Elbit facilities — was proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
The case is not the first time the conflict in Gaza has brought legal proceedings to the UK courts with a Wales connection. An Irish man living in Burry Port was detained by the Israeli navy on his 75th birthday after a Gaza aid ship was seized in international waters, while a Swansea humanitarian was among Britons aboard a Gaza flotilla that prompted MPs including Gower’s Tonia Antoniazzi to raise safety concerns.
The sentencing is due to take place on 12 June.
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