// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Key convicted Palestine Action member on the run
Sean Middlebrough: Caught on a doorbell camera shortly before the break-in
A key member of Palestine Action, who is currently on the run, has been convicted in his absence over a break-in that caused damage put at £1.2m to an arms firm.
Sean Middlebrough, 33, originally from Liverpool, absconded in October last year after being granted bail for his brother's wedding. The self-proclaimed revolutionary communist has since sent messages to supporters describing himself as a "prisoner of war".
His trial began this summer in his absence and last month the jury convicted him of criminal damage by a majority of nine-to-one.
Prosecutors told the court Middlebrough had helped to plan and organise the August 2024 break-in at Elbit Systems in Bristol, a British defence firm with an Israeli parent company. The break-in happened 10 months before the government banned the group under counter-terrorism powers.
Four people were convicted over the break-in that left a police officer injured
During the break-in, other members of Palestine Action rammed the van into Elbit's factory and, once inside, set about destroying as much equipment as they could find, including military drones that they believed would be used in Gaza.
The firm says that claim is untrue and that nothing produced at the Bristol facility goes to Israel.
Prosecutors told the court that Middlebrough's role included taking part in a planning meeting in Liverpool arranged with the help of encrypted communications.
He provided £890 to fund the the plot, including £600 that prosecutors said was used by another organiser to buy equipment used for the break-in.