# Alfie Meadows charged with violent disorder on the 9th of December



## consumer135 (Apr 27, 2011)

> Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service's Operation Malone team have this afternoon charged 11 people in connection with the disorder seen in central London on 9 December last year.
> 
> They have been charged with a range of offences, including violent disorder and criminal damage.



From Press Bureau at New Scotland Yard - last updated Wed 27/4/11 8:25
http://www.met.police.uk/pressbureau/Bur26/page03.htm

Guardian is also covering but that's it
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/27/tuition-fees-protest-alfie-meadows-charge

Timing is interesting - Its like they want people to protest during the wedding as an excuse to crack more skulls


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## Lo Siento. (Apr 27, 2011)

looks like De Menezes stuff. Throw bullshit out, so no-one talks about what they did.


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## Libertad (Apr 27, 2011)

' sake


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## cantsin (Apr 27, 2011)

every single on of the charged there is young  and from the UK, despite all the 'older / outside / professional / foreign' agitator shit that was thrown about, especially on other forums.


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## Divisive Cotton (Apr 27, 2011)

The details will come out in the wash but what they define as violent disorder can be ridiculously insignificant


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## MellySingsDoom (Apr 27, 2011)

Does "violent disorder" also include being smashed on the head with a truncheon these days?  Shades of John Lydon being charged for assaulting two Gardai officers' fists with his face.


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## lopsidedbunny (Apr 27, 2011)

Good God they have cocked up... I wonder what happen if he had died?


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## Streathamite (Apr 27, 2011)

I can only hope Meadows sues the bastards for millions, or even better pursues a private criminal prosecution


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## BigTom (Apr 27, 2011)

yeah, posted this on the thread about the demo.  Also been told one of them is Lowkey.
Evidence clearly shows Alfie was violently headbutting an innocent policemans baton 

Part of this I reckon is just sweeping up people who they think might cause trouble ahead of the royal wedding - twitter tells me they are raiding squats in Brighton today.. lots of people getting lifted left right and centre.. bail conditions from at least one stokes croft arrestee to stay out of London over next weekend..


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## gawkrodger (Apr 27, 2011)

yeh, Kareem Dennis is Lowkey. Shame, but not that surprising


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## Steel Icarus (Apr 27, 2011)

How ridiculous, and sad.


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## OneStrike (Apr 27, 2011)

According to a Guardian journo he is pleading not guilty, surprised that the police would risk a trial tbh.


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## Wolveryeti (Apr 27, 2011)

He assaulted the copper's truncheon with his head.


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## ymu (Apr 27, 2011)

Ridiculous.


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## rekil (Apr 28, 2011)

MellySingsDoom said:


> Does "violent disorder" also include being smashed on the head with a truncheon these days?  Shades of John Lydon being charged for assaulting two Gardai officers' fists with his face.


Or the Derek Fairbrother case. 





> During this short journey Mr. Fairbrother was bleeding heavily, with the result that he, his clothes and the gardaí, as well as the squad car, were saturated with blood. Witnesses have confirmed that when the squad car arrived at the Garda station, he was physically dragged out of the car, thrown to the ground, and beaten and kicked again. He tried to protect himself by crawling under the squad car. Later, the sergeant in charge suggested that Mr. Fairbrother was crawling under the car in an attempt to turn it over.


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## Brixton Hatter (Feb 11, 2013)

The Alfie Meadows and Zac King trial started again today - for third time - at Woolwich Crown Court. Defend the Right to Protest are doing a demo down there. Protestors (_and_ people there for other cases) have been locked out of the court, unable to go inthe public gallery, having to stand outside in the sleet and snow instead.


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## Brixton Hatter (Feb 11, 2013)

Here's a recap of the testimony from the previous trial (which collapsed) if anyone is interested

http://mediadarlings.net/2012/11/09/alfie-meadows-retrial-day-5-recap/


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## Farmer Giles (Feb 11, 2013)

I was on the jury for this case at Kingston last year.
Total waste of time and money.


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## TopCat (Feb 19, 2013)

Any news on how he is getting on?


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## Brixton Hatter (Feb 25, 2013)

TopCat said:


> Any news on how he is getting on?


This guy https://twitter.com/glennmc470 has been live tweeting from the trial - there's quite a lot of info in his feed. Hard to tell how it is going really. Seems the case is gonna go on for another few weeks at least....

He's also done a blog here: http://glennmcmahon470.wordpress.co...ople-despite-reports-of-guns-on-demo-defence/


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## TopCat (Feb 26, 2013)

Cheers.


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## ska invita (Mar 8, 2013)

Unanimous not guilty for Alfie and Zak


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## TopCat (Mar 8, 2013)

ska invita said:


> Unanimous not guilty for Alfie and Zak


Fucking brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   <does dance around the office>

yay yay yay!!!! <wipes tear from eye>


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## teqniq (Mar 8, 2013)

The OB are not best pleased:



> Inspector Gadget ‏@InspGadgetBlogs
> It's official - you can now wear a balaclava and throw metal railings at head height at the most lightly armed riot cops in EU #alfiemeadows
> Retweeted by glenn mcmahon



followed by


> glenn mcmahon ‏@glennmc470
> Was that last tweet from a police blogger libellous? I think so


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## ymu (Mar 8, 2013)

Excellent news. Now, are they going for compensation?


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## BigTom (Mar 8, 2013)

3 trials it took before a unanimous not guilty verdict was returned. 3 trials.


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## gunneradt (Mar 8, 2013)

He wasn't guilty.  However, those guilty of criminal damage should have been prosecuted and made to pay for whatever damage they caused to be repaired.


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## ska invita (Mar 8, 2013)

BigTom said:


> 3 trials it took before a unanimous not guilty verdict was returned. 3 trials.


which in itself is such a painful experience. all power to them and their friends and family


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## ymu (Mar 8, 2013)

gunneradt said:


> He wasn't guilty. However, those guilty of criminal damage should have been prosecuted and made to pay for whatever damage they caused to be repaired.


Certainly, if they are going to prosecute people it should be with good cause rather than pure malice.


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## TopCat (Mar 8, 2013)

gunneradt said:


> He wasn't guilty. However, those guilty of criminal damage should have been prosecuted and made to pay for whatever damage they caused to be repaired.


Fuck the police.


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## ddraig (Mar 8, 2013)

brilliant news


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## nogojones (Mar 8, 2013)

.


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## gawkrodger (Mar 8, 2013)

good news!


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## Mr.Bishie (Mar 8, 2013)

I should fucking think so to! 

Now, jail the the fucking scum pig who nearly killed Alfie.


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## gunneradt (Mar 8, 2013)

TopCat said:


> Fuck the police.


 
I wasn't talking about the police


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## Mr.Bishie (Mar 8, 2013)

gunneradt said:


> I wasn't talking about the police


 
We were, so go fuck yourself.


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## brogdale (Mar 8, 2013)

Streathamite said:


> I can only hope Meadows sues the bastards for millions, or even better pursues a private criminal prosecution


 
Looks like now he will have the chance.



> Outside the court, Meadows said he was "delighted" with the verdict and would now consider taking further action against the Metropolitan police.


 
I'm sure we all wish him every success in that endeavour.


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## kenny g (Mar 8, 2013)

anyone could pursue a private prosecution regarding what happened to meadows.


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## Brixton Hatter (Mar 8, 2013)

what a fucking waste of time and money, the whole thing. Police and CPS didn't get their way this time, like they did after the riots. Fucking A.

Next - Critical Mass......


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## ska invita (Mar 10, 2013)

Good article about the case - read in full here http://glennmcmahon470.wordpress.co...f-meadows-and-king-as-police-tactics-exposed/

heres the first half

ALFIE Meadows and Zak King, the two students charged with violent disorder following an anti-tuition fee demonstration on December 9, 2010, have both been found not guilty by a jury in a unanimous decision yesterday.*

It was the third trial the pair and their families had endured after a hung jury in the first, an abortion during the second and finally a unanimous not guilty following the third – more than two years after they were first arrested.

The pair faced up to five years in jail had they been convicted.

The jury agreed that they had acted in self defence and the defence of others as they momentarily helped use metal fencing to block police hitting out at protesters trapped in a kettle with their batons and shields.

The prosecution were clear that neither of them were accused of hitting out or throwing missiles at police.

The court also heard how King used shin pads strapped to his arms to block police baton strikes from connecting with himself and others.

The prosecution’s evidence rested on hours of video footage of which a few minutes featured the pair at the vanguard of clashes between police and protesters on Parliament Street on that day, of which a few seconds showed the pair in contact with the fencing, and the fact they remained at the front of clashes between police and protesters.

The two repeatedly defended their right to protest wherever they stood and to defend the protesters around them in the face of police aggression.

After the verdict, however, the judge said that King’s and Meadows’ behaviour was on the cusp of violent disorder and, turning to the gallery, warned against engaging in similar scenes in future.

After speaking to reporters and thanking their counsel the two headed over to the pub opposite to celebrate with friends, family and supporters.

While they can finally look forward to planning a future after a two-year hiatus to deal with the case, Meadows is expected to continue a criminal prosecution against the police for the strike to the head that left him on a surgeon’s table fighting for his life.

The IPCC has reportedly already contacted the family over the matter.

In a statement, Susan Meadows, Alfie’s mum, said: “The struggle for justice for my son has finally begun. The whole family has been through two years of total agony. We have been silenced on what happened to our son. We can now move on to the really important thing, which is to get justice for Alfie.”

Meanwhile, beyond the not guilty verdict, the case has highlighted the frailties and questionable approach to the policing of large public demonstrations.

In particular, the use of batons by police as a supposed last resort was questioned with police accused of its frivolous misuse and aiming at protesters’ heads despite being trained to target arms and legs to avoid life threatening and even lethal injuries.

The failure to use Wapping Boxes – metre-wide fencing that keeps police and protesters apart – more extensively to limit contact and baton use.

The counter-productive effects of implementing a containment without warning creating confusion and uncertainty among thousands of previously calm and passive protesters. The events that followed on that cold December day beg the question as to whether the containment resulted in more damage and injuries than it was supposed to prevent.


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## sunny jim (Mar 17, 2013)

He must be due shit loads of compensation, six figures at least seeing as they nearly killed him - plus false arrest/imprisonment etc. I hope so, good luck to him.


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## Pickman's model (Mar 17, 2013)

ska invita

from what i've read the cops have been told not to whack people on the head since the nineteenth century. yet ime from the poll tax riot to the present they seem quite happy twatting people on the head: I saw loads of people at the ptr with head injuries, and the same at pretty much every bit of disorder i've been at since, waterloo,  welling, hyde park, israeli embassy, j18, n30, g20, the hunting do outside parliament - and of course the student demos. for something ostensibly prohibited, it seems remarkably common.


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## kenny g (Mar 17, 2013)

It would be most interesting to see how a private prosecution progresses, and the CPS reaction. The DPP can take over any pp, which can include stopping one, if deemed to be in the public interest. If the CPS take it over the costs are covered by general funds.

All they would initially need is a few bundles to Criminal Procedure Rules requirements, an information (summons) and a visit to a magistrates to lay the information. Cost awards from criminal prosecutions are usually less than from civil claims, but there is no reason why a civil action couldn't be taken as well, although it is often advised to start the civil action after the criminal.

 Even if the criminal case were forestalled or lost the civil claim could continue.


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## audiotech (Mar 27, 2013)

'There were 17 criminal justice acts introduced under Labour, more than the whole of the post-war period. In total, a criminal law was introduced for every day Labour were in office. If ACPO asked for it Blair gave it to them. The police can do anything they like now.'

Source.


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## fiery brook (Mar 29, 2013)

As Alfie's girlfriend, and having all of us gone through hell over the past 2 years and 3 months, just wanted to say thank you for the support for Alfie and Zak from Urban75! The IPCC have now reopened the investigation (suspended as the bullshit criminal case dragged on through three grim trials), so we'll see how things go from there. It's likely to take ages, but at least now there's no threat of prison and we get some kind of autonomy over our lives again.


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## ymu (Mar 29, 2013)

Well done, all of you. Get the bastards.


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## ddraig (Mar 29, 2013)

strength to both of you


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## teqniq (Mar 30, 2013)

All the best


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## Mr.Bishie (Dec 12, 2019)

Fucking bullshit!

“We are not persuaded that PC Alston committed misconduct.”

“That's it. It's over. Still no #JusticeForAlfieMeadows PC Alston cleared of misconduct.”


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## teqniq (Dec 12, 2019)

FFS


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## krink (Dec 12, 2019)

acab fuck them bastards


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## Mordi (Dec 12, 2019)

Utterly despicable.


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## charlie mowbray (Dec 17, 2019)

All the best to Alfie and friends. Solidarity.


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