On Monday, a key defendant in the high-profile trial linked to a Palestine Action raid on an Elbit Systems factory gave dramatic testimony at London’s Woolwich Crown Court, detailing what he says were repeated assaults by a on-site security guard during the August 2024 break-in near Bristol.
Thirty-one-year-old Jordan Devlin is one of six people facing criminal damage charges connected to the incident at the Filton facility, which manufactures military technology. His co-defendants are 30-year-old Leona Kamio, 29-year-old Charlotte Head, 21-year-old Fatema Rajwani, 22-year-old Zoe Rogers, and 23-year-old Samuel Corner. Corner faces an additional charge of grievous bodily harm with intent, accused of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer during the incident.
Taking the stand to testify before jurors, Devlin described the sequence of confrontation that unfolded after security guard Angelo Volante intervened in the raid. Devlin, who told the court he was unarmed when Volante first encountered the group, explained that Volante had already seized a sledgehammer from co-defendant Rogers, who was standing nearby. Devlin said he stepped between the two because he believed Volante intended to harm Rogers, triggering a physical altercation.
“Volante assaulted me multiple times,” Devlin told the court, recounting that the guard kicked him and launched a series of wild swings at him after Devlin caught Volante’s leg during the attack. Body-worn camera footage from Volante was presented to jurors, and Devlin argued that when slowed down, the footage captures Volante delivering a downward swing that would have seriously injured him if it had connected with the back of his head. Devlin went so far as to accuse Volante of enjoying the confrontation, saying “He was looking like he wanted to hurt her… I could see from his face, he was enjoying the opportunity to bully people. He should have lost his job, been barred from the security industry altogether.”
Photographs of injuries Devlin sustained during the raid were also shown to the court. Devlin pointed to a distinct red linear mark across his shoulder, which he said was likely caused by a blow from the handle of Volante’s sledgehammer. He further testified that after he grabbed the sledgehammer from Volante, the guard deliberately pressed against him to turn off his body-worn camera — and just seconds after the camera cut out, Volante attempted to bite his neck.
Devlin also described a second, unrecorded confrontation in a factory alcove that was not captured by either body-worn cameras or on-site CCTV. During that grapple over the sledgehammer, Devlin said Volante drove the weapon into his face, leaving him with the black eye visible in his post-arrest mugshot, which was shown to jurors. “The moment I was struck my tinnitus went off, and I stepped back stunned,” Devlin recalled, adding that he even attempted to de-escalate the tension by joking about a “Star Wars moment,” suggesting the two duel with the sledgehammer as if they were light sabers. Devlin noted he has been unable to verify this second altercation because CCTV footage from the relevant part of the factory is missing, a gap the court has previously confirmed.
The trial proceedings have already revealed that two on-floor CCTV cameras never had their footage retrieved by investigators, a point defense counsel raised earlier this month when questioning PC Sarah Grant, the officer tasked with recovering the facility’s security recordings. Body-worn footage shown to the court also captures a separate incident where Volante runs at Devlin and strikes him across the neck with a sledgehammer handle, knocking him to the ground.
Devlin also detailed his confrontation with responding police officer PC Aaron Buxton. He told the court Buxton put him in a headlock and pulled him to the slippery floor, which had been covered in fire extinguisher fluid during the raid. After Buxton fell to the ground, Devlin said he was unable to identify the man as a police officer or see anyone approaching because his goggles were coated in Pava spray, an incapacitating agent Buxton had fired just moments earlier. Devlin told the court he did not learn Buxton was a police officer until three days after his arrest, adding “If they had said they were police, it would have been over a lot easier.”
Jurors viewed Buxton’s body-worn camera footage from the ground, which shows Corner raising a sledgehammer and striking the officer. Devlin told prosecutors he had no idea Corner was nearby at the time, as he was crouched focused on Buxton. When prosecutors asked Devlin if he admitted to causing property damage during the raid, he openly acknowledged the damage, telling the court “Yes I do, and it was an honour.”
The trial of the six Palestine Action defendants is ongoing.