Bail Granted to Remaining Filton 24 as CAGE Calls for Collapsing Prosecution to Be Dropped

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• In August 2024, activists targeted an Elbit Systems facility in Filton, Bristol, linked to the manufacture of weapons used by Israel’s military.
• Twenty-four individuals were subsequently arrested in connection with the action.
• Despite no terrorism charges being brought, counter-terror powers were used, and the defendants were held on prolonged remand, some for up to 18 months.
• In Trial 1, no convictions were secured. The jury returned a not guilty verdict on aggravated burglary - the most serious charge in the case.
• Following that verdict, the aggravated burglary charge has now been removed across all remaining Filton 24 cases.

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London – Today at the Old Bailey, bail was granted to 12 remaining Filton 24 defendants who submitted applications, leaving only Samuel Corner still without bail. Many of those who have been detained have now spent well over the 6-month legal limit on pre-trial remand, a period marked by punitive and disproportionate restrictions. This follows the total collapse of the state’s arguments in Trial 1 and the deproscription of Palestine Action, which together expose the politically motivated nature of these prosecutions. The evidence-free, politically inflated charges demand that these prosecutions be brought to an immediate and permanent end.

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This afternoon, the court also addressed matters relating to Trial 4. The defendants in that tranche formally entered not guilty pleas. Crucially, the aggravated burglary charge, already discredited in Trial 1, was formally removed.

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In the first trial earlier this year, no convictions were secured. Most significantly, the jury returned a not guilty verdict on aggravated burglary, the most serious charge underpinning the prosecution’s case. Following that outcome, aggravated burglary has now fallen away across all remaining Filton 24 cases. The charge that once justified extraordinary remand decisions and heightened rhetoric has collapsed entirely.

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From the outset, this case has been characterised by the use of counter-terror powers despite the absence of terrorism charges, prolonged remand, and political pressure surrounding protest against Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. The steady disintegration of the prosecution’s most serious allegations raises fundamental questions about the integrity and proportionality of the case as a whole.

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Public commentary has continued to speculate on guilt while three further trials and a retrial remain pending. Such intervention risks undermining the fairness of proceedings that have already been overshadowed by political interference and abuse of process.

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Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said:

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“Today’s bail decisions are long overdue. These individuals have spent over a year imprisoned on the basis of a narrative that has steadily fallen apart in court. The aggravated burglary charge was central to the state’s attempt to inflate this case into something far more sinister. A jury has rejected it and the CPS was forced into a humiliating U turn, dropping this charge entirely across all defendants.

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When the most serious allegation collapses, when no terrorism charges were ever brought, and when remand has already functioned as “punishment”, the question becomes unavoidable: what is the legitimate basis for continuing this prosecution? At this stage, the case should be dropped.”