Samuel Corner, a Palestine Action activist, is accused of injuring a police officer at the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm.

He has now said he swung a sledgehammer at her to “protect” a fellow participant who he thought was being “seriously hurt”.

The 23-year-old told jurors at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday he “would never want to seriously hurt anyone”, and denied it was part of a plan to use violence against people during the raid.

READ MORE: Opening day date confirmed for new Lego store at Oxford Westgate

A stock photo of a sledgehammer. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Corner said he brought the tool down on Police Sergeant Kate Evans after he heard “someone screaming” and feared they were being injured by security guards during the raid at the Elbit Systems site near Bristol on August 6, 2024.

Alongside the former Oxford student, Charlotte Head, 30, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are on trial, accused of criminal damage over the incident.

Corner, a former linguistics and philosophy student at Oxford University, faces a further charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Sgt Evans, which he denies.

In his evidence, Corner told jurors the intention of the raid was to “shut Elbit down” so it could no longer make weapons from the site.

Asked by defence barrister Tom Wainwright what he intended to do on the day of the incident, he said: “We intended to destroy weapons and things needed to make weapons which we believed were going to be used to cause death and destruction.”

READ MORE: Fire tears through Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper’s barn

A female police officer was involved in the incident (stock photo). (Image: Newsquest Archive)

Asked what he thought the weapons were being used for, he said: “To cause death and devastation. Kill people, injure people.”

Jurors previously heard that Corner hit Sgt Evans in the back with the sledgehammer as she was on her knees trying to arrest Rogers.

Mr Wainwright asked the defendant why he swung the sledgehammer at the officer, and he replied: “To protect. I heard someone screaming… and I thought she was being seriously hurt by security.”

The barrister asked Corner what he had hoped to achieve in “bringing the sledgehammer down in the way you did”.

In response, he said: “To protect her.”

READ MORE: Private school blames VAT for administration as new deal struck

He added: “I would never want to seriously hurt anyone.”

The court previously heard that Sgt Evans suffered a fractured spine when Corner hit her with the sledgehammer.

Corner was sprayed “straight in the face” with an incapacitant after police arrived at the factory, he told jurors.

He said: “I immediately couldn’t open my eyes or see. Luckily, I could walk away and not hit anything, but there was just all-consuming pain in my face.”

He told the court the organisers of the action told participants “we wouldn’t have to worry” about security guards during the demonstration.

READ MORE: Jack Whitehall ‘heckled’ at his own £250k wedding in Cotswolds

The court heard that Corner discovered Palestine Action in 2020 after coming across a video of the group on YouTube.

Mr Wainwright asked him: “What did you know about the type of action they carried out?”

Corner said: “I knew that they would go to these arms factories and occupy them and destroy weapons and other things inside them.”

Mr Wainwright asked him: “So far as you were aware, did the action involve violence to people?”

In response, Corner said: “No.”

Jurors were previously told that the defendants allegedly crashed into shutters outside the factory in a prison van, which was driven by Head and used “as a battering ram”.

Once inside, they used sledgehammers and crowbars to destroy computers, drones and other equipment, and sprayed the walls and floor with red paint using fire extinguishers, the court heard.

The defendants deny all charges, and the trial continues.

Performing on Saturday, April 18 at the shopping centre, the Charlotte Mendly Voice Centre Choir from Nottinghamshire sang from 12.30pm to 1.15pm.

Originally set up in 2012, the choir has released a charity single and won the choir class at Selston Music Festival 2019.

READ MORE: Iconic tree next to Oxford University college collapses across market street

A spokesperson for the choir called its Oxford tour “unforgettable” and “filled with laughter”.

After the choir’s performance at the Westgate, the group then performed at St Michael’s at the North Gate, sharing the space with a Ukrainian choir.

A spokesperson said: “It was such a special experience bringing music and cultures together.”

On Sunday, April 19, the group then performed at Oxford Castle.

The 37-year-old, known for Fresh Meat and Bad Education, tied the knot with model Roxy Horner during a countryside wedding over the weekend.

The pair announced their engagement in December 2024, nearly a year after welcoming their first child, Elsie.

Ahead of the ceremony at Euridge Manor in Wiltshire, Whitehall, who was due to wear a Tom Ford suit, had a wardrobe malfunction and changed into a back-up Dunhill suit.

READ MORE: Jack Whitehall ‘heckled’ at his own £250k wedding in Cotswolds

Speaking to British Vogue, Mr Whitehall said: “I squatted down to pick up Elsie and my trousers split, my whole ass was hanging out.”

Meanwhile, Horner wore a strapless silk Galia Lahav gown and veil for the ceremony with Alaia Le Coeur heels, complete with a diamond necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring by Roxanne Assoulin.

She later changed into a second Lahav dress for the reception, paired with Freya Rose heels.

Ms Horner said: “I also wore my grandmother’s engagement ring that she handed down to me when she passed away, which was so special.”

For her “something borrowed”, she had a bell on her bouquet as part of a centuries-old family tradition, completed with a blue ribbon on her garter, which she said later fell off.

READ MORE: I’m A Celebrity star Gemma Collins spotted in Cotswolds getaway

The 34-year-old walked down the aisle with her father, Perry, and said that although she was really nervous before walking out, she later “got the giggles” because she kept tripping over her dress while walking up the stairs.

“Then Jack was blubbing at the end of the aisle,” she said.

Their daughter was one of three flower girls at the ceremony and wore a white dress like her mother.

Ms Horner said: “It was very sweet when she got to the end of the aisle.

“I just heard her go, ‘daddy, daddy!’”

READ MORE: Lady Victoria Beckham signs major multi-season deal with Gap

During the ceremony, a string quartet played Beauty And The Beast from the hit Disney film, with readings from a number of friends and family, including Ms Horner’s sister, who read a piece from Winnie the Pooh, while one of Mr Whitehall’s oldest friends, Tally Gilbert, read a personalised poem she had written for the couple.

The lakeside ceremony also included a Shakespearean sonnet performed by actor and Whitehall, and his father’s good friend, Neil Stuke, before the pair shared their first dance together to Michael Jackson’s Rock With You, with the party going on into the early hours of the morning.

The newlyweds will head to Venice for their honeymoon, with a stay on the luxury Belmond Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express train.