Barry Horne 10 year anniversary memorial event

Barry Horne was an animal liberationist who quite literally died for his beliefs whilst serving an 18 year prison sentence. Whilst in prison he engaged in 3 hungerstrikes in less than 3 years, the first two whilst he was still on remand.

Barry Horne was arrested in Bristol in July 1996, spent a lot of time on remand at Bristol prison (in Horfield), and was tried at Bristol crown court. His hungerstrikes were a political action aimed at forcing first the Tory government, and then NewLabour, into taking action to end vivisection and then general abuse of animals for profit. During his hungerstrikes and throughout his prison sentence until his death there was a masive upsurge in animal rights related actions, and some of the most well known such campaigns began, including at Hill Grove (cat) Farm and Huntingdon Life Sciences.

INQUEST slams 3 deaths in 8 days during contact with police

‘Police must be reminded they cannot act with impunity following alarming rise in deaths after the use of force’

The campaigning charity INQUEST issued a press release (pdf) 24th August following the 3 deaths of men during contact with the police in the period 16 to 23 August. All the deaths involved the use of a taser and/or pepper spray and/or restraint. The dead men were Philip Hulmes, Jacob Michael, and Dale Burns. Helen Shaw, INQUEST Co-Director, said:
“The shocking reports about three tragic deaths in eight days following the use of force by police highlights INQUEST’s growing concern about deaths following contact with the police. For too long there has been a pattern of cases where inquest juries have found overwhelming evidence of unlawful and excessive use of force or gross neglect yet the police do not seem to have learnt the lessons from these previous deaths. Whilst we await the outcome of the inquests and investigations into these recent deaths it is imperative that the police are reminded that they cannot act with impunity.”

No justice for Oscar Grant as hundreds arrested

Oakland (USA) killer cop gets just 2 years

Whilst in the UK it seems cops never get done for killing members of the public like Ian Tomlinson (UK G20 protests), in the USA they kill so many that occassionally one goes to trial. But that doesn’t mean justice is done. Obama’s election has just meant business as usual! News just in from OccupyCalifornia via Denver ABC (links include video footage):

Cops out of control (whats new?) and the legacy of Blair Peach

The sudden media obsession with police misbehaviour, since the G20 protests and death of Ian Tomlinson, may lead you to think that the cops are normally very nice people who only help old ladies across roads and catch naughty youths stealing apples. In fact the cops have a very long, and to them proud, history of brutality and repression.

Some have raised the similarities between Tomlinson’s death and that of Blair Peach back in April 1979. Beyond the brutal deaths themsleves however, there are other reasons for those new to police violence to look back to Peach and the related histories of the late 70’s and early 80’s. In the interests of relevant history, and popular education, we therefore reprint below an article ‘The Political Legacy of Blair Peach’, published as a ‘comment’ piece on the Institute of Race Relations website on 23 April 2009.

Scotland Yard arrives in Athens, as another prisoner dies in custody – Greece at boiling point again

At the request of the tottering Greek government, a delegation from Scotland Yard arrived in Athens on March 16, to help the Greek state in its efforts to suppress the continuing revolt that ignited when a fascist cop killed a teenager on 6 December last year.

Another woman dies in prison – stop the killing

Yet another woman prisoner has died in prison, and once again it is at the widely condemned HMP Styal for women in Cheshire.

36 year old mother Alison Colk was found hanging in her cell on 8 January this year, apparently 1 day into a 28 day sentence. She was not on a suicide watch, and is the third woman to die by suicide at Styal in the last 20 months, and the tenth since 2002. There is a report in the local media here.

Prisons Campaigner Found Dead Beside Daughter’s Grave

Bristol ABC wishes to send it’s deepest sympathies to those who knew and worked with Pauline Campbell.  Pauline has been a tireless campaigner against deaths of women in custody since the tragic death of her daughter Sarah in 2003.  She was awarded the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize in October 2005. The prize is awarded each year to a woman or group who has, through their actions, writing or campaigning; raised awareness of violence against women and children. Pauline visited Bristol in September 2007 to talk at the Kebele about her daughter’s death, the state’s admission that they had failed her and her ongoing struggle.  Tragically Pauline was found dead on the grave of her daughter, whos death in custody motivated her struggle for justice.

Links for more information/related news:

Prisons campaigner Pauline Campbell found dead beside daughter’s
grave
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/05/398885.html

A Shameful admission
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/sep/27/crime.penal

Venue’s Shameful Class War
https://bristolabc.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/venues-shameful-class-
war/
In other news Bristol ABC notes the arrival of two new groups
campaigning around justice for the Angloa 3 –
http://angola3london.org/ and http://www.myspace.com/awhw

There is a letter-writing that meets at Kebele – please get in touch if you are interesting in coming along!