Wales: Butetown 2 officers disciplined
01 September 2000
Five South Wales police officers have been disciplined after arresting two black students, Marcus Walters and Francisco Borg, when they were subjected to a vicious racist attack by members of the National Front (NF). The assault, which saw a pit bull terrier set on the youths, forced Marcus to abandon his five-year old sister into the hands of a passing stranger for her protection. The events took place in the City Road area of Cardiff in August 1997 and were witnessed by the police officers who failed to intervene. The victims were sprayed with CS gas before being arrested and charged with violent disorder. Marcus also faced charges of assaulting a police officer, (see Statewatch vol 8 no 3 & 4).
The charges against Marcus and Francisco were not dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service until they were due to appear in court two years later, despite evidence from CCTV cameras showing the racists carrying out the attack and the policemen looking on. In August 1998, two of the NF gang who took part in the attack, Sean Canavan and John Shepherd, were found guilty of a racially motivated assault. Canavan was jailed for one year and Shepherd for six months, while a third man received community service and a fine (see Statewatch vol 8 no 5). In September 1999 the Police Complaints Authority finished their investigation into the case and informed South Wales police that five officers should be disciplined. They recommended that one officer should be charged with neglect of duty and discreditable conduct, that another should be admonished while three others should receive advice. In May this year South Wales police announced that two inspectors, a sergeant and two constables had been disciplined. All of the unnamed policemen stayed on duty throughout the inquiry and disciplinary process. The South Wales chief constable, Tony Burdon, made what has been described as a "public apology" for the handling of the investigation which asserts that all of the arrests were justifiable:
"There is absolutely nothing that suggests to me that those officers singled out the two black youngsters to arrest them because they were black...A very confused situation was aggravated by the actions of Mr Walters and Mr Borg...In my view [there] is neither direct racism nor indirect racism nor institutional racism, (Guardian 17.5.00)."
However, his views are not shared by Marcus Walters who said:
"There should be five dismissals from the police force. I feared for my life - I thought we were going to be killed that day."
Lawyers have begun proceedings against South Wales police.