Chesterfield Online Forum
General Category => Politics => Topic started by: Pete on October 21, 2012, 08:37:39 PM
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Here we go again...
"Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, said the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, should include in their examination of South Yorkshire police's post-Hillsborough "cover-up" the force's alleged framing of 95 miners for serious criminal offences after Orgreave.
At Orgreave in 1984, police officers on horseback and on foot were filmed beating picketing miners with truncheons, but South Yorkshire police claimed the miners had attacked them first, and prosecuted 95 men for riot and unlawful assembly, which carried potential life sentences. All 95 were acquitted after the prosecution case collapsed following revelations in court that police officers' statements had been dictated to them in order to establish evidence of a riot, and one officer's signature on a statement had been forged."
This is an article from today's paper and the subject of a BBC1 Inside Out documentary on Monday night, to be broadcast in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and features a retired police inspector who was on duty at Orgreave, Norman Taylor, recalling that he and other officers had parts of their statements dictated to them.
And these are the good guys?
http://bit.ly/WWctmX (http://bit.ly/WWctmX)
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Always out to cover their own backs aren't they. What with this the pleb, and Jimmy Savile saga --- what happened to standing up and facing this squarely. Being honest in other words!
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Totally agree. Honesty seems to be demanded of us ordinary folks, but honesty doesn't seem to be a trait of the current "powers that be" - policemen or politicians.
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Without wishing to belittle what happened to the miners back in 1984 I'm a bit puzzled as to how this is news?
As the OP says "all 95 were acquitted after the prosecution case collapsed following revelations in court that police officers' statements had been dictated to them in order to establish evidence of a riot, and one officer's signature on a statement had been forged."
So everyone has known about this for years.
The only questions are 1)why didn't the authorities at the time do something about it and b) given their 'history' why didn't the West Midlands force discover what South Yorkshire had done re Hillsborough and why did it take 22 years to get the truth?
Hate to play this card so early in the thread but the actions re the Miners adds more weight to the theory that Maggie was a key player in the Hillsborough cover up.
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It's a question of crime and punishment as far as I can see - will know more after the tv program tonight.
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As a little light relief from our profound political musings - one of my fave photos of all time.
(http://www.ichesterfield.co.uk/images/copper-miner.jpg)
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http://forum.warsopweb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6109&sid=04a2a2b4e3576e55654499b795c3b1fa (http://forum.warsopweb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6109&sid=04a2a2b4e3576e55654499b795c3b1fa)
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What's that all about?
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As a 'flying picket' in say, Derbyshire, Notts, South Yorks, North Yorks etc.
I came across a lot of let's say, police confrontations.
London Met, Greater Manchester police in full riot gear.
Warsop was one place we were picketing one morning. About 3.30am, picketing the day shift.
The Greater Manchester police were there in force and ran us out of the village.
They must have been tipped off cos they were there lined up in the streets at about 3.00am in full riot gear.
Tell me that a police van driver, can legally drive you off a road by side swiping you into a ditch, then drive off.
The van's they were driving didn't have standard reg plates.
They were sent to stop the pickets, by what ever means, and they did !!
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Ahh, gotcha.
As to the program I just watched, it seems the South Yorks police have got some questions to answer.
And, IMHO, what happened at Orgreave with no police being brought to book, probably paved the way for another miscarriage of justice at Hillsborough. Some of the police seem to have thought they were above the law.
Anyway, it looks like we'll see some of them in court soon.
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...one of my fave photos of all time.
Then this should be of interest, if you haven't already seen it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/24/miners-strike-photo-don-mcphee (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/24/miners-strike-photo-don-mcphee)
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Thanks Stuart, I haven't seen that though I have read about it in the past.
It is a wonderful picture.
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"Miners' strike: how the bloodiest battle became the 'biggest frame-up'
Now the IPCC is to probe claims of assault, perjury, perverting the course of justice and misconduct"
:)
http://bit.ly/UqUvpZ (http://bit.ly/UqUvpZ)
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Us nasty nasty miners, not !!!
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Sorry Fly I was there when the miners started, has anything been said about the 2 South Yorkshire Council's cabins that were attacked and set afire? I was in one of them. The three of us got out and got to my car which was driven at about 3 million hours per hour backwards.
There was good and bad on both sides.
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I was a kid. 16/17.
Also know a lot of the miners arguments about the police etc are not true.
I also know a lot of them were true.
Can also visage the concept that a lot of angry miners could vent their frustration against any 'organisation', council, etc.
Totally nowt to do with the strike.