Colm Roach case Lift the lid on cops
Class Fighter1983 1983-04-01Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 3 →
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SINCE Colin Roach's body was found in Stoke Newington police station, shot through the throat with a shotgun, 84 - mainly black - protesters have been arrested by Hackney and Stoke Newington police.
On the last demonstration on March 12, the police showed what they thought about allegations of harassment of the Roach family by arresting Colin's father, James Roach, along with dozens of other protesters, many of whom were badly beaten.' The main demand campaign is for an independent public enquiry. Home Secretary William Whitelaw has turned this down, promising an inquest, which would achieve nothing. It will be a very important victory for the campaign if we can win an independent public inquiry, which Whitelaw knows will find difficulty in clearing the police.
Meanwhile, the black organisations of the area, along with the local labour movement, should begin collecting evidence for a labour movement and black community inquiry which would expose Hackney's Colin Roach protest demonstration racist police force for what it is, and echo the sentiment of many people in the area of no confidence in the police torce.
LPYS branches, Class Fighter groups and other youth organisations nationalCOLIN ROACH Independent Enquiry JP