On 4 March 2026 at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Edward Bindloss told the jury “This is not a court of morality” and directed them to “put aside their sympathies”.
“The Defendants gave evidence of why they caused the damage; to stop profits going to Israel, to stop the manufacture of weapons being used in a genocide, to stop damage to property. None of the above is a lawful excuse.”
International law lies in tatters, the leadership of the West is not held accountable for a genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Instead, it is citizens who protest against these crimes who are likely to be criminalised by our legal system which increasingly leaves them with no defence.
Georgia Coote, Summer Oxlade and Holly Mildenhall known as “The Scotswood Three” tried to stop the genocide in Gaza, even if only for a day. They were found guilty of criminal damage and will be sentenced on 29 April.
Holly, Georgia and Summer
From working class backgrounds, Holly, Georgia and Summer have academically excelled. They graduated in demanding subjects like civil engineering, archaeology and history and criminology. Summer completed her Masters in “cultural heritage protection in a conflict zone”. Georgia is now working on her PHD. Holly is also studying for her Masters in International Relations. They are intelligent and articulate young women. They are well qualified to conduct research, analyse it and arrive at logical and reasonable conclusions.
Character references were provided for each woman by doctors, lecturers, colleagues, professors, and respected members of their communities. Each one was described as compassionate, kind, empathetic, generous, principled, honest. We heard how each one contributes to her community by selflessly helping others. There are few people who perfectly exemplify what it means to be a good citizen in our democracy as “The Scotswood Three”.
In his summing up Judge Bindloss directed the Jury,
“The Good character of all three defendants, is not a defence, but a positive feature to the issue of their credibility.”
Prosecution counsel too conceded, that the defendants were,
“Polite, thoughtful, academic, decent good citizens”.
The Genocide
Each one provided a textbook definition of genocide. Georgia explained to the court,
“I watched horror upon horror, Israel was carpet bombing Gaza…I saw land clearance vehicles mow down people.” She continued “There were daily reports, tents being bombed, there is an image in my head of a man on fire.”
Holly described the image of a little girl called Sidra hanging over a balcony wearing a striped jumper with her legs blown off.
Summer explained how she saw the face of her niece in the little girls being killed. Summer knows grief, she recently lost her mother, her only surviving parent. This grief had a searing effect on Summer as she “witnessed videos from Gaza of entire family names being made extinct”.
The women talked about the effect on them of hearing the pleading voice of Hind Rajab in a car with members of her family dead around her, begging to be rescued, worried that the blood in her mouth might upset her mother if it stained her dress. They told the court that they saw endless videos posted by Palestinian journalists about the massacre in Gaza.
“Neighbourhoods were being bulldozed; tents set on fire. Incubators being turned off.” Holly explained. She had heard the evidence of British doctors talk about children being snipered in the head. “On 14 October, Israel bombed a hospital. It was an indiscriminate attack on a civilian population.” Holly spoke with conviction as she recalled the events that took her on a journey which ended with their action on 18 February 2025.
The women researched and made enquiries, they read reports by the UN, Amnesty international, Francesca Albanese, they read the landmark ICJ order issued in January 2024 which concluded that it was plausible that Israel was committing a genocide and acts violating the 1948 Genocide Convention. They understood that UK domestic law, specifically The Geneva Conventions Act 1957 and International Criminal Court Act 2001 enables prosecution of individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in this country, regardless of where they are committed.
“We signed the Geneva Convention we are supposed to stop this happening.” Summer said.
The women explained that they understood that the UK must uphold international law by scrutinizing arms exports and ensure accountability for any violations in Gaza and they believed our government had failed in its duty to do so.
“The government claimed they had no role in the genocide, but they lied.” Holly did not flinch when she recounted the war crimes committed by Israel and the role played by our government.
Judge Bindloss directed the Jury,
“That the defendants were motivated by their conscience or the suffering in Gaza is not relevant.”
Sign petitions, join a March and write to your MP
Holly Georgia and Summer explained how they signed numerous petitions. They wrote letters to their MPs which elicited generic replies that provided them with no assurance that anything would be done. They tried to ask questions in their local council chambers that were rejected. They joined numerous marches to demand a ceasefire, to let aid into Gaza.
Georgia, softly spoken, had to be reminded to raise her voice, she fidgeted with the keffiyeh she had draped around her shoulders, knotting and unknotting it as she spoke.
“I thought petitions were a good way for politicians to listen- I don’t believe that anymore”.
The women then discovered there was a weapons factory owned by Israel in their city.
Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd
In September 2022, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd, an Israeli-based defence technology company, acquired Pearson Engineering Ltd. Holly, Georgia and Summer researched records at Companies House and discovered that Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s Minister of Finance, controlled Rafael. They investigated the company’s website which confirmed that it supplied Israel and the IDF. The only UK manufacturing site for Rafael was in Newcastle and it was manufacturing and supplying Israel with military equipment which it was using to commit a genocide in Gaza. For the period 2022/2023 reported Turnover was£55 million and Gross Profit: £34 million, this profit, the women concluded was being used to finance the genocide.
They also researched the website for Campaign Against Arms Trade to find out if there was any disclosure about export licenses awarded to Pearson engineering. The website says that since 2016 the reporting system is “opaque”.
“I believe Pearson Engineering breached international law.” Summer Oxlade concluded.
The women took part in a static protest and a blockade at Pearson Engineering a few mornings a week for almost a year. They admitted, other than raising public awareness, it had little effect. The police would arrive and move them on. While they took these actions, for more than 15 months their social media platforms delivered news 24 hours a day of the continuing genocide.
18 February 2025
Holly, Georgia and Summer decided they had to do more to stop the genocide.
On 18 February 2025 at 5.18 a.m. the three of them dressed in red boiler suits arrived at the Rafael site on Scotswood Road in a pick up truck. Two of them climbed up on the roof of the security hut, cut a section of the razor wire and sprayed the security hut with red paint and damaged the signage. They stayed there unitl police arrived in a cherry picker to arrest them. The third woman, the driver of the pick up truck dumped rubble at the entrance and locked herself to the cab. They did not intend to and did not in fact, harm anyone in taking this action.
The women explained that they intended to disrupt the supply chain at the factory. They thought their actions could save lives and protect property in Gaza. Georgia explained,
“If one palestinian life is saved that makes my action worth it…I am scared of the consequences , but am glad I did it.”
The Judge’s legal directions
Holly, Georgia and Summer might have been able to rely on the statutory defence of “lawful excuse”. However, Judge Bindloss decided that the legal test required it to be objectively reasonable that stopping production for a day on the Scotswood Road could immediately protect property in Gaza. He decided it could not and strictly followed recent legal precedents to rule out all legal defences.
The judge directed the jury on the route to verdict. If the women caused the damage and had intended to “there is only one verdict possible, that is guilty”. The Jury followed these directions and found Holly, Georgia and Summer guilty of the charge of criminal damage.
Conclusion
Judge Bindloss said that the women should have “collected evidence against Rafael and presented it to the police.” The advice sounded hollow and disingenuous given that it was the police who moved their protests on.
When good citizens like Holly, Georgia and Summer are criminalised, without regard for their honesty or motivation there is a dangerous erosion of trust in society. Criminal law in protest cases, has arguably moved so far from justice that more and more people are prepared to flout the law to protect their civil rights and moral integrity.
Footnote:
- In June 2025, the UK sanctioned Smotrich, for inciting “extremist violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank. His name was then replaced in Rafael’s Companies house records with the state of Israel.
- In August 2025, two months after Smotrich was sanctioned, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Pearson worth over £10m. https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-awarded-contract-to-firm-overseen-by-sanctioned-israeli-minister/
- “Britain exported more pounds worth of military equipment in the final three months of 2024…after the suspension of 29 export licences by the Labour government – than it had done in the years 2020 – 23 combined.”(P49. Complicit. Peter Oborne.)
