30 years on, police face inquiry over Battle of Orgreave
Fury at Hillsborough-style probe into miners’ strike
SCORES of retired police officers are facing an investigation into their conduct at a notorious flashpoint during the miners’ strike in the 1980s.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has spent more than a year carrying out a preliminary probe into the infamous ‘Battle of Orgreave,’ one of the ugliest confrontations during the bitter dispute.
Last night police reacted furiously as speculation grew that the watchdog could soon announce a full-scale investigation – similar to the Hillsborough Inquiry – into claims police made up statements about Orgreave.
Nearly 100 miners were charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and related offences after clashing with police at the Orgreave coking plant near Rotherham in the summer of 1984.
The confrontation took place between 10,000 strikers and 5,000 police officers.
However, the prosecution of all 95 miners who were charged over the incident collapsed the following year after concerns emerged about police statements.
Lawsuits were brought against the
‘Officers were pelted with bricks’
police for assault, unlawful arrest and malicious prosecution and South Yorkshire Police later agreed to pay nearly £500,000 in compensation to 39 miners.
The row over what did or did not happen at Orgreave was back in the spotlight yesterday after Labour demanded that David Cameron issue a formal apology for Margaret Thatcher’s handling of the miners’ strike in 1984 and 1985.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Michael Dugher, MP for the former pit town of Barnsley, also called for a ‘proper investigation’ into alleged police malpractice at Orgreave on June 18 1984.
His comments piled pressure on the IPCC, which since November 2012 has been carrying out a comprehensive review of the case. Two former senior officers who helped police the miners’ strike urged the IPCC not to ‘ waste money’ investigating events three decades ago.
Former chief superintendent Simon Humphrey said: ‘The idea of a new investigation being launched into Orgreave is unbelievable. Absolute cobblers.
‘People are too quick to forget that police were up against extremely violent flying pickets who were breaking the law, pre- venting people who wanted to go to work from going to work.’
And Dai Davies, another former chief superintendent, also condemned the prospect of a multimillion-pound inquiry.
He said: ‘Officers were pelted with bricks and stones, and showed the utmost restraint. I would much rather scant police resources are devoted to tackling today’s crimes – in particular child sex abuse – than events 30 years ago. If anyone should apologise, it is the Labour politicians who aided, abetted and encouraged violence at the time.’
The IPCC preliminary inquiry into Orgreave was launched nearly 15 months ago after claims in a BBC documentary that some officers may have colluded in writing court statements.
Television footage and photographs had shown miners being beaten with truncheons by police, some in riot gear and some on horses, who claimed they were attacked first by the miners picketing the plant.
Yesterday the IPCC said it hoped to decide whether it will carry out a full-scale probe into Orgreave before the 30th anniversary in June. It said it had asked all police forces in England and Wales to search their archives for any documents relating to the confrontation.
‘ This search for additional information forms part of the IPCC’s ongoing scoping exercise to assist in identifying matters arising from the events at Orgreave which remain capable of investigation,’ it said.
Speaking in November, IPCC Commissioner Cindy Butts said: ‘I appreciate it is now almost 30 years since the events at Orgreave and a year since South Yorkshire Police made a referral to us – and people will rightly want answers to the questions they have.’
She added: ‘ The amount of documentation that we have to analyse is potentially vast.’
Former NUM leader Arthur Scargill, 76, who lives in Central London, slammed down the phone when the Mail rang him for a comment.