:9 No. 728 (Unruled) -1 METROPOLITAN POLICE 5' Reference . tar ?ers I . .. gum. I Dwnl, -- - . ?ggijzitli Registry Folio 16th .June'.. 19 77 .. .43 fit-QB? . Ra TRADE DISPUTE - PROCESSING LTD. A?s. With reference to 1977. previous reports dated 14th and 15th June, COBBOLD ROAD 1977, by 6.45 a.m. 45 pickets and demonstrators had assembled and 3 pickets were present at the rear. The larger group compri??d mainly of ung white men and women, who without exception, were extremely antagonistic and hostile to Police. Superintendent attempted to speak to them and advise them as to how they should carry out peaceful picketing. They were derisory in their abuse and it was clear that they did not intend to ??bey spread themselves across the whole co-operate in any way. width of the carria eway. Byig.30 a.m. their numbers increased to 70, with 42 at the rear. On Wednesday 15th June Regional organiser of APEX, and attended and discussed with Supterintendent It was agreed that 8 pickets At 7.15 a.m. .also of APEX, ?the law on picketing. Iwcould place themselves in roadway to peacefully picket and forth8 remainder tofcontainmthemselves on footways on both sides of the road. conveyed this to the assembly and there was reluctant agreement by most with a few dissenters. . an APEX Council representative fromiBristolg was nominated to supervise picketing. Messrs. and- departed 7.25 and those assembled immediately moved up to curtilage of Grunwick factory. Superintendent advised them that they were trespassing and after argument, they reluctantly moved back to the boundary of premises. They lined up on each side of the carriageway thereby restricting it to the width of one vehicle. Seven official pickets stood in the centre of the road. From 7.35 9 vehicles owned by the ompany, approached the premises and on each occasion, the driver an ehicle were subjected to foul abuse, insult, banging and kicking. No damage or injury occurred. All those responsible were strictly warned about.their behaviour. The drivers showed considerable apprehension for their safety and passed through thelcrowd only with Police assistance. Arrests for'Threatening and Insulting Behaviour'were justified, but in the interests of overall good order, no resort to arrest was made. By 8.00 a.m. 170 persons were present in COBBOLD ROAD, comprising mainly of young white people of both sexes. They were generally rowdy, disorderly and very antagonistic towards Police. employees on foot, seeking to enter the During the next hour, and in some cases jostled. factory, were abused?foully insulted, t1 No. 7?29 (Unruled) apprehensive for their safety. During the whole of this period realise he could not influence or control the situation and made no effort to do so, very concerned with the behaviour. He was struck by its bumper bar and fell to the ground, sustaining no injury. He complained to Superintendent about the driver of the vehicle and demanded that he be arrested. It was explained to him that he was on private property and was referred to his civil remedy. The vehicle passed through the crowd, assisted by Police and accompanied by great abuse from demonstrators. the pickets and demonstrators started to disperse only 25 remained. Movements in and out of the a and there was no further disorder By 9.30 a.m. and by 9.45 a.m. factory ceased. present. on foot the total number of demonstrators and pickets did not exceed 12. All were very abusive and insulting to the employees entering th premises but made no physical attempt to obstruct them. - 1 At about 9.45?h.m. approached Superintendent Iexpressing dismay and concern regarding the behaviour of many of the demonstrators. He particularly mentioned two young women, one of whom he had seen warned about her behaviour by Commander on one occasion and by Superintendent on another. He expressed suprise that many of those engaged in the disorder had not been arrested and complimented police on their restraint. The situation remained unchanged for the rest of the day. numbers fluctuating between 15 - 30. There was no disorder. By 4.00 p.m. there were 4 official pickets at Cobbold Road, and 3 at This situation continued to 6.00 All minutes to be numbered in consecutive order. Continue on other side if necessary. VLF :the control of a 'This situation continued and 9.30 NO. ROAD pickets and demonstrators totalled 20, including By 6.50 a.m. the others By 6.30 a.m. 10 official pickets standing across the front gate. 40 demonstrators and 10 pickets (20 across on either and women. By 7.30 a.m. there were 300 people who were orderly, with 20 pickets across the gate. Mr. C. BALL, area organiser of APEX was present with P.A. equipment and reqhested people to go to Coo er Road. About 80 people responded. Chief Inspector attempted to speak to Mr. BALL to discuss 'peaceful picketing' but met with no response. A further attempt with the same result. By 8 a.m. demonstrators had built to approximately 350 -with 20 - 30 pickets across the gateway. A staff coach was denied entry and Mr. BALL made no attempt to control this obstruction. Police No serious was reported Appeals made by Chief Inspector HAY on P.A. equipment to reduce the number of pickets at the gates met with no response and no assistance was forthcoming from Mr. the gate with a stream of abuse. this was met with strong were made. BALL. Groups across and then removed'by Police, responding Firm police action removed them but physical resistance. Three arrests a.m. the coach returned and free access to the gate cordon of police. 6 official pickets the coach driver The driver replied using strong gates. a group of 10 white males, acting in concert charged-the main gates from the South footway. The gates?held and 5 arrests for 'Threatening Behaviour' were made. From 8.40 a.m. there was a noticeable withdrawal of demonstrators who by 9a.m. numbered 120. These were contained by cordons on either side of the gate with 6 official pickets at the gate entrance. Numbers were progressively reduced until 9.15 a.m. when only 50 remained. They were comparatively orderly but still under Police cordon. 6 official pickets remained. a.m. the position was one of calm, and Police presence was reduced. Continue on other side if necessary. All minutes to be numbered in consecutive order. MIP ?resence adjusted accordingly. N6. 3'29 (I'nrulud) could take place was found only to have a defective horn. The Throughout the next few hours numbers of demonstrators varied but were generally at the factory. Between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. 3 deliveries were made by Company vehicles but only token attempts were made by demonstrators to stop them, and these attempts were controlled by the Police presence. damaged by a demonstrator who ran forward and kicked the vehicle, He was arrested at 4.05 p.m. and subsequently charged with causing Criminal Damage. By 4.14 p.m. numbers increased to 70 and these were maintained until 6 p.m. when the coach carrying employees left the factory. Again there were token unsuccessful attempts to break the police cordon and obstruct the vehicle. After 6 p.m. numbers were reduced to 30 and the Police These 30 remained until just after 8 p.m. when the last emplo coach left without incident. Between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Up to 11 p.m. 15 docile pickets remained in Chapter Road under minimal police supervision. . COOPER ROAD E- 3 By 6.45 a.m. 2b pickets and demonstrators, mainly white, of both sexes, were present. These built up to 100 by 7.30 a.m. and spread themselves across the front of the gate, even more reluctant to comply with police instructions than on the previous day. They were spread in considerable depth across the gate. Chief Superintendent appealed to them to relieve the obstruction and to maintain official pickets only across the Their response was most abusive. About this time Mr. C. BALL (APEX) arrived with P.A. equipment. He was spoken to by Commander and Chief Superintendent and requested to maintain only 6?10 official pickets at the gate. He addressed the assembled crowd saying 'they have asked us to co-operate but we will see what we will do about that.? He did nothing to organise the pickets and comply with directions. He left and reappeared after a short period of absence. At about 7.40 a.m. (APEX official) accompanied by another man arrived at Cooper Road. He was spoken to by Commander and Chief Superintendent and was told that no co?operation was forthcoming from BALL. asked to persuade the crowd to quit the gate and reinstate normal picketin and he agreed. He was also informed that when vehicles of employees arrived it may be necessary for Police to remove large numbers who were across the gates, All minutes to be numbered in consecutive Order. Continue on other side if nu . NO. 729 (Unruled as their presence in such large numbers was intimidatory. He agreed. With Chief Superintendent he spoke to the large group at the gates. They cat-called and made derisory remarks. He was clearly embarrassed and withdrew from Cooper Road. the numbers had increased to 250 with Appeals were made by Police The By about 7.50 a.m. many still solidly across the gate. to quit the gate and to allow normal only response to this was the addition of approximately 50 to the group across the gate. cordon on one side. At this time Police were engaged in 2 cordons. The coach driver decided to go to the Chapter Road entrance to seek entry, and drove off. Mr. BALL was seen to be present and over P.A. equipment was making faceteous and sarcastic remarks pretending to be seeking co-o?EIation with Police. By 8.35 a.m. themselves across presence was gradually reduced accordingly. arrests were made. Several officers and demonstrators fell to the ground. One officer was kicked in the groin and was removed to hospital. He was later released, having suffered no serious injury. a Soon after this incident the employee left on foot but the vehicle which had approached seek entry and scene. There was then a gradual drift away by demonstrators, numbers fluctuating until at 9.45 a.m. there were only about 50 to 60 present. By 10.15 a.m. there were only 10, plus the normal pickets. i i All minutes to be numbered in consecutive order. Continue on other side if necessarv. left mum?! No. 729 (Unrulmi) There were no further incidents during the day. About 4.30 p.m. 10 to 15 demonstrators were present. These remained until approximately 6.00 p.m. when normal pickets only were The pickets left at 6.10 p.m. To summarise the day's events. It was noticeable thatLthose APEX officials present were in the main there for the first time. They were in one case wilfully ineffective in controlling and directing picketing and in the other case quite overwhelmed by the situation and apparently resigned to being unable to have any influence on hard core militants who were in a majority at all the venues. I All minutes to be numbered in consecutive order. Continue on other side if necessary.