item on the TV news.
When the case began, the police slapped a further assault charge on Dave, so that he faced four charges of police assault, one charge of breach of the peace, and one charge of inflicting actual bodily harm on a police inspector.
The police accused Dave of grabbing one constable from above, hitting other officers, kicking Inspector Bedford and spraining ankle, whilst simultaneously fracturing the inspector's wrist with his left shoulder.
They further all remembered Dave shouting: 'Pull me, stop the pigs from arresting me, kick the bastards.
But then the produced a videotape (which the police witnesses hadn't seen pnot to us use in cross-ckaml nation) which clearly showed that the demonstration attacked by a supporter of the National Front, that pulled him out, that as he did so his a lens from his glasses fell down, and that after he had retrieved the lens he turned to the demo and shouted through his megaphone: Keep calm, hold it, cool it' At this point he was attacked by crowd emerged after a with his arm twisted behind his back by a policeman.
The videotape threw the police witnesses into confusion. Nine of them had made statements wich tamned perfectly with each other defence had nothing at all to do with what the film showed.
Indeed, only two could even identify themselves on the film! The prosecution's final ploy was was a vicious cross-examination Dave at the police and scrummage above criticism.
evidence that bobbies could lie so tently and systematically. but out, sins. of Dave. One would have thought that Dave was on trial for his political beliefs, and that is was illegal to demonstrate or to tink that tae ponce were no nel argument was based or the belief that the jury would simply not be able to conceive nine respectable British compe- would gone down But as the defence pointed only in Hollywood policemen break down in the witness box and repent of their After only two hours the jury returned a unanimous verdic of innocence on all charges.
Without the vital evidence of the videotape, however, Dave almost certainly have The central question raised by this case is: how many black, Asian and working class people have not had a videotape to prove that they were innocent and the police were lying? One and can only guess at the answer. leave AR IS racist mum TONIGHT (Thursday) sees the showing on BBC of an 'Open Door' put by the Campaign Against Racism in the Media - made si largely, though exclusively, media workers.
The prospect that people who are in some cases its own employees might attack it for racism had a predictable effect on TV's legions of grey-suited controllers - they slapped a ban on the use of extracts from news programmes.
Despite the loss of news CARM has still assembled a pretty damning collection of examples other areas such as light entertainment, discussion prolanes. and current affairs shows.
But with only half an hour to address tiny (in TV CHEES audience of 650,000, CARM ends the programme by listing some of its campaigns HIVILE viewers. 'Don't the media the professionals - you can get at them.' CARM's Open Door' will bi shown at 11.25pm on Thursday 1 March on BBC 2 and repeated on the same channel at 3.25pm on Sunday 4 March.
ROCK Against Racism now 90 group: around the country, gigs, breaking down race-hate bringing militant youth gether whatever their colour thi the National Front plans to stand over suu candidates. RAR's Militant Entertainment Tour, starting in a fortnight's time, is a part of the campaign to stop
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WOLVERHAMPTON anti-racist Dave Stevens was unanimously acquitted of all charges against him after a five-day trial at Stafford Crown Court last week. That evening 8 million people in the Midlands saw the film which had proved his innocence as the main
END POLICE
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