Six Months for Throwing Stones !

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THE REAL face of Tory justice was shown last week in Leicester when a 19 year old youth appeared in court charged with threatening behaviour and criminal damage (smashing windows).

The police (probably using their "positive" methods) managed to get a confession out of him.

When he got to court it turned out that he had been out all night well away from the 'scene of the crime' and was innocent.

Obviousiy he had been intimidated into admitting to something he had not done but unlike many other youth in that position he had a sound alibi that the police couldn't contend.

In this position you would expect the police to be apologetic and argue that this was the 'course of justice' , etc.

But just as the police have convicted the obviously innocent youth in the past they were determined not to look like they were in the wrong. They suid they were considering charging the youth with wasting police time but had decided that the 36 hours he had spent in custody was punishment enough.

This shows the real role of the police in the riots and that they are determined to make the youth guilty and not them.

It also goes to show that trying to make deals with the police is no answer.

Only independent, labour movement action, exposing what really happened in the riots and why they happened and defending all the youth with the demand that all charges be dropped, will be effective.

Last weekend, the Steering Committee of the National Left Wing Youth Movement heard reports of what had been happening to youth arrested in the riots from all over the country.

In Liverpool the Liverpool 8 Defence Committee is continuing to come under attack trom i the police. 1 hey claiming - that the are Defence Committee is run by a bunch of criminals.

In Wallasey, a 17 year old youth was sent down for six months for throwing stones and a 46 year old man given 40 days for was assault.

Many more jail sentences are expected. In Bradford 12 Asian youth have been singled out for exceptional treatment and face charges of conspiracy to make petrol bombs.

All except one have been refused bail. They face possible maximum sentences of life imprisonment.

Round the country, in Manchester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, the story is the same. No matter what ine youths' story is, they are guilty if they were on the streets during a riot.

Mysteriously

But you'd never know any of this from the daily papers. The 3,000 youth arrested during the riots have mysteriously disappeared.

And we've heard less and less about the riots from the Labour and trade union leaders as the weeks go by - not that we heard much from them at the time.

The Labour and trade union movement must say clearly whose side it is on the side of the youth against the police Youth Movement of the LPYS is organising defence meetings all over the country and has produced a special broadsheet on the ric is.

But that is not enough. We have to win these youth to the ranks of the labour movement. If we don't -many could end up demoralised, desperațe or dead like Sean Grant and Graeme Rathbone.

We need a national campaign of labour movement meetings, pickets and leaflets showing we're on the side of the youth.

Get your Constituency Labour Party or trade union branch to affiliate to and work with the local defence committee. Set one up if there isn't one already.

Collect information on what's happening in the courts (no one else will).

Support the. Labour Youth Detence Appeal initially sponsored by Wallascy IPYS. co Wallasey Labour Club. C'hurch Road.

Seacombo. Merseyside.