New Police Black Youth Lac

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The full weight of the class system of law is being felt by the 18 Islington youths on trial at the Old Bailey.

Not only do the prosecution, judge and police seem determined musser the youths up as black muggers' and "criminals before they have been proved guilty of the charges in any way. But the defence lawyers and barristers have also fully shown their class colours.

Many of them before the trial promised to co-operate with the parents and youth in a co-ordinated defence and to fight the case politically.

In fact their concerns lie with their careers rather than with the youths in Islington.

They fail to protect their clients from the abuse of the prosecution, and several of them even tried to persuade their clients to plead guilty on lesser conspiracy counts as part of a deal with the prosecution.

On June 3 one of the youths gave in to the pressure, causing an uproar in court.

For such 'defence' the barristers draw £60 a day on legal aid while the youths struggle for a pittance from social security and suffer the humiliations of the Old Bailey prison regime day by day.

SOCIALIST PRESS

€3,000 FUND SPECIAL OFFER Twenty five comp lete sets of "Socialist Pr from issue no. 1 to 60, are offered at f5 per set, including carriage.

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Available from Socialist Press 31. Dartmouth Park Hill . Dartmouth Park London. NW5 1HR London. NWS 1H But the determination of the youths and their parents to fight back is undiminished.

On April 29 they staged a picket outside the Old Bailey attacking the collusion of the barristers with the courts, demanding control over the defence and legal aid resources for the defence committee to be able to run a tape recorder in court, for instance.

Outraged at the biased press reporting they have called for a picket of the Islington Gazette on Tuesday 13 June at 4pm.

The local NUJ has also invited Defence Committee speakers to its next meeting.

PETITION

Hundreds of people have signed the petition, which calls on loca MPs and councillors to publicly support the Defence Committee in organising an enquiry into police dealings with the youth and their parents, And many local trade union and Labour Party organisations, having heard speakers from the defence committee have by now given their On June 21 black youth were arrested in the Lewisham area. Dragged from their beds at 5 am, held in police stations, beaten up and jointly charged with conspiracy.

The case, using photographic and film evidence, follows the pattern of the attack on the Islington 18.

Meanwhile reports mount. of continuing police assaults on black youth in Islington.

As the case of the Islington 18 shows, the strength for a counter-offensive against the police and their masters lies not in the courts but in workers' organisations.

The local labour movement must be forced to step up its support to launch an all-out offensive on the police by carrying out the enquiry and acting on it.

Support and donations to:

The Islington 18 Defence Committee, 161, Hornsey Rd., London N7.