A group of 'Lefty luvvies' sparked fury today after they pleaded with a judge not to sentence Palestine Action thugs as 'terrorists' over a raid on an Israeli defence firm.Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Rajwani are facing lengthy jail terms on Friday in a sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court.They caused an estimated £1million in damage to the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol in the early hours of 6 August, 2024.An old prison van was used to smash through the entry gates, before the activists took sledgehammers and crowbars to the company's equipment and clashed with security guards and police who tried to stop the raid.Head, Corner, Kamio, and Rajwani were all convicted after two trials of criminal damage, but were acquitted of the more serious charges of violent disorder and aggravated burglary.Corner was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after fracturing a police officer's spine by striking her with a sledgehammer during the night-time raid.On Friday, Mr Justice Johnson is set to pass sentence on the activists and he will consider whether the crime had a 'terrorist connection' that should lead to tougher jail terms.But, in a letter, a collection of celebrities - including Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes and Charlotte Church - have urged the judge to reject the idea that the raid was related to terrorism. A group of celebrities - including (clockwise from top left) Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes Charlotte Church, and Maxine Peake - have urged the judge to reject the idea that the raid was related to terrorism Samuel Corner was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after fracturing a police officer's spine by striking her with a sledgehammer during the night-time raidSignatories include Harry Potter stars Paapa Essiedu, Zoe Wanamaker, and Margolyes, actors Zawe Ashton, Maxine Peake, Coogan, Tobias Menzies, and Bella Ramsey, TV presenter Nadia Sawalha, singers Church, Kate Nash, and Shirley Manson, comedians Ardal O'Hanlon and Alexei Sayle, directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Ken Loach, and Terry Gilliam, and best-selling author Sally Rooney.Activist Greta Thunberg has also added her name to the list of more than 90 supporters to the message, along with Misan Harriman, the chairman of the Southbank Centre's board of governors.Harriman is facing calls to step down from his post over his 'divisive' social media posts.The letter urges the judge to 'drop the use of the 'terrorism connection', suggesting if he refuses when passing sentence it 'would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself'.They added: 'We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.'But Lord Walney, the crossbench peer and a former government adviser on political violence, condemned the celebrities' letter.'It is telling that this crowd of Lefty luvvies show more sympathy for the activists convicted of a sickening sledgehammer attack than the police officer whose spine was smashed in the name of their cause,' he said.'Rather than bowing to privileged apologists for the violent intimidation of working people, the Government should make clear it will insist on the firmest possible approach to this disgraceful criminality.'Senior Tory MP Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'It is utterly disgraceful these celebrities are campaigning in favour of a group of violent activists.'These aren't any ordinary pro-Palestine protesors, they are convicted criminals, including one who left a police officer with life changing injuries after shattering her spine with a sledgehammer.'The public are sick of seeing famous faces show more sympathy for those who commit serious crimes in the name of policial activism than for the victims who suffer the consequences.'At a hearing last November, the judge ruled that criminal charges stemming from the Elbit raid had a 'terrorist connection', at a time when Palestine Action had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the government.That ban was adjudged to be unlawful by the High Court, while Court of Appeal judges are due to rule next week on whether they agree that proscription should be overturned.The activists' supporters say if the judge takes into account his 'terrorist connection' ruling when passing sentence, it would be unfair as the jury did not know about this ruling.It would also, they say, lead to tougher jail sentences and the possibility of life-long effects of being branded a terrorist.'To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone', the letter sets out.They say the Palestine Action activists were trying to block the UK supply of arms to Israel, to defend against a 'campaign of mass killing in Gaza', and argue that peaceful protest had not worked.The raid on the Elbit factory was to dismantle weapons in order to save lives, the letter reads, and it is said the 'conscientious motives' of the defendants may be used against them at the sentencing hearing because they were 'attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons'.'In this case, the purported 'terrorism connection' could extend the defendants' prison sentences, require them to 'rescind' their deepest moral beliefs in order to be eligible for parole, and impose harsh restrictions on their freedoms even after their release,' it adds.'Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case.'The implications for civil liberties in Britain are difficult to overstate.' Commenting on the letter, Rooney suggested including the terror link as part of the sentencing would be seen as an 'obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.'Church said: 'The Government failed in its duty to prevent genocide in Palestine.'Now the courts are lashing out at young people who acted to try and stop it, when it's those making weapons for Israel that should be facing jail.'On Monday, lawyers for the defendants tried and failed to have Mr Justice Johnson removed from the case, claiming he had shown bias against one of the defendants.Supporters of Palestine Action have staged regular protests in defiance of the Government's ban, leading to hundreds of arrests under terrorist legislation.