A leading human rights barrister is facing contempt of court proceedings after he was accused of defying a judge’s orders during a trial of Palestine Action activists. Rajiv Menon KC is accused of breaching the judge’s directions while giving his closing speech in the trial of six people in relation to a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol. None of the defendants were convicted of any offence after the first trial , which concluded in January, but they were retried. After the second jury’s verdicts on Tuesday, the proceedings against Menon, who represented Charlotte Head in both trials, can be reported. Menon previously worked on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the inquests of victims of the Hillsborough disaster and the Grenfell Tower inquiry. The proceedings are believed to be the first brought against a barrister in respect of a jury speech in living memory, possibly ever.…