Battle of Orgreave miners warn police 'no more shredding' after public inquiry win
Miners from The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign who have won their victory for a public inquiry are warning police 'no more shredding'.
They were speaking at a press conference in Sheffield, about the 'historic' announcement that there would be an inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave. They told how they want 'full disclosure' to 'clear our names'. They said they want to see all the secret documents handed over including 'raw footage' of the police violence captured by TV companies. They pointed out the BBC reversed footage to make them look like the 'villains' - which they later apologised for.
They said it was an 'absolute tragedy' they have had to wait so long in their fight for justice. Police could now be forced to give evidence about the day of terror at the Orgreave Coking Plant on the hot summer's day of June 18, 1984.
The investigation announced by the Home Office is set to launch in the autumn will look at the events surrounding the clashes which caused 120 injuries. In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited.
But campaigners for the OTJC say they fear there will now be more 'shredders overheating all over the country'. They were referring to the 'disgraceful' news that Northumbria Police had recently admitted to disposing of documents relating to the miners' strike in April 2024.
Kevin Horne, 75, who was arrested at Orgreave for 'unlawful assembly' showed his file from police marked 'closed file 2071' with the details mainly redacted. 'We have this chance now of wiping the slate clean so that our children and grandchildren can respect the police again,' he said.
'I've already lost my boys, they don't like the police at all, they said they'd seen me come back from Orgreave black and blue. I don't remember that. I know I had to wait 14 months for my name to be cleared, all that time thinking I could be going to prison for life. So let's get on with this inquiry and stop the police shredding.'
Kevin told how he was sitting on a wall when he was bundled into a police van, Later he didn't recognise the police statements which he said had been made up of 'total lies' saying he had attacked several officers.
John Dunn, 73, from Derbyshire who suffered a serious head injury when he was hit over the head with a truncheon on the picket lines weeks before Orgreave, says he hopes this will 'open the door' to look at policing throughout the 'frightening' dispute.
'I was seriously injured, arrested and framed on the picket line weeks before Orgreave, since then I have been trying to clear my name. I have two criminal convictions to this day, I have a scar in the back of my head. I hope this Orgreave will open the door on what was happening every day throughout that strike, in our villages away from the cameras.'
In a message to police, he told The Mirror: 'Get ready, it's our turn, you'd better make sure that everything is available to us. I am sure I have heard these shredders going all over the country this weekend. Watch out, we're on to you now.'
Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign Secretary (OTJC), Kate Flannery, said: 'We are indebted to the striking miners for their dedication to that year-long struggle that changed our lives forever. Thank you to everyone who has campaigned with us over the last 13 years for an Orgreave Inquiry. It has been a long, hard and sometimes lonely journey, but we are determined, persistent people…'
She said they hoped to get answers about the 'paramilitary violent policing' across mining villages and communities. Adding: "We know the Tory Government of the 1980s were directly involved in the strike while 'professing 'non-involvement'...This was state sponsored organisation against the miners and their livelihoods...
'Orgreave marked a turning point in the policing of public protest. The Right to Protest should be a fundamental human right. With no accountability of policing at Orgreave a message was sent to the police that they could employ violence with impunity. This set a culture that enabled the police cover up in 1989 at Hillsborough…'
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