Nine people have appeared at the Old Bailey accused of causing more than £1m worth of damage to a weapons factory in Kent.

The activists, allegedly supporters of the now-banned protest group Palestine Action, are said to have filmed themselves as they broke into Instro Precision in Sandwich in the early hours of June 17 2024.

The factory, which makes military-grade electro-optical equipment used for target acquisition and surveillance, including night vision goggles for the British Army, is owned by the Israeli firm Elbit Systems.

It is alleged that the intruders cut through three layers of fencing at the Discovery Park site before smashing stock with crowbars.

Eight defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal damage to property, aggravated burglary with intent, and violent disorder, when they appeared before Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubbb on Friday.

They were Hannah Davidson, 52, from Edinburgh; Nasser Akhtar, 37, from Crystal Palace; Elliot Wilson, 25 from Liverpool; Maximillian Dixon, 29, from Brockley, south-east London; Nirad Abrol, 25, from Birmingham; Seirol Davies, 30, from Plymouth; Xavi Davies, 21, from Binfield in Berkshire; and Eoin O'Meara, 34 from Bristol.

A ninth defendant, Julija Brigadirova, 32, from Manchester, who was facing the same charges, was not asked to enter a plea.

The prosecutor, Anne Whyte KC, said that video evidence will be played at the trial, which has been scheduled for October 5, next year. The trial is expected to last eight weeks.

All the defendants, except Davidson and Brigadirova, have been released on bail with conditions requiring them to observe an overnight curfew, not leave the country and to report to a police station once a week.

The firm was subject to a further attack in September 2024 by a different group of people.

Five people are facing charges of criminal damage from that event. All have pleaded not guilty and face trial next April.