Ten men acquitted of violent disorder in Rotherham case that provoked campaign in support of them across South Yorkshire

Campaigners have called for an inquiry into the actions of South Yorkshire police after 10 Asian men, who fought with far-right extremists after attending an anti-racism protest in Rotherham, were cleared of violent disorder.

The verdict at Sheffield crown court was greeted by applause from the public gallery. The case had provoked a major campaign across South Yorkshire in support of the men , which was backed by the Orgreave and Hillsborough Truth and Justice campaigns.

Using the slogan “self-defence is no offence”, campaigners staged rallies outside the court at various points during the six-week trial. They branded the men the Rotherham 12, a reference to the Bradford 12 , who were charged with terrorist offences after an anti-fascist march in 1981 in Bradford and later acquitted following a campaign.

The 12 men, two of whom pleaded guilty at the start of the trial, were attending an anti-fascist demonstration organised by the group Unite Against Fascism in Rotherham on 5 September 2015, a month after the racist murder of 81-year-old Mushin Ahmed in the town.

On the same day, the far-right group Britain First also staged a protest in the town and more than 800 police officers were deployed from across the UK to keep the two groups apart.

A jury heard that it had been one of a long line of far-right demonstrations held in Rotherham in the aftermath of the child sex abuse scandals uncovered in 2012. A 2014 report by Prof Alexis Jay concluded that failures of political and police leadership had contributed to the sexual exploitation of 1,400 children by Asian men in the town over 16 years.



Michael Mansfield QC, defending Asif Zaman and Arshad Khan, told the court the town had been besieged by toxic fascist groups and the air was filled with fear. “The fear was not a fantasy – it was a reality,” he said.

“But there comes a point when people have to say to themselves, are we going to be humiliated to the extent that we won’t leave our homes? And is it time to show our respect and solidarity for this elderly man who was stamped to death?”

The court heard that, after the demonstration, police channelled the anti-racism protesters down Rotherham’s Wellgate road, past the William Fry pub, said to be a well-known hangout of the far right.

Paul O’Shea, prosecuting, said men outside the pub had shouted “vile racist abuse” at the Asian men as they passed . “Not exactly original but certainly offensive,” said O’Shea.

The jury was played various pieces of CCTV footage that showed a clash between the two groups in the street outside the pub before the police arrived.

The prosecution contended that while there was no doubt that “the other side” in the clash – who will be prosecuted later this month – had acted first, the actions of the defendants could not be justified as self-defence.

During the trial, the defence questioned South Yorkshire police’s decision to send the men past the pub, described by Mansfield as a “pub for thugs”. Giving evidence, Ch Insp Richard Butterworth said he did not know the pub was associated with the far right.

“Everybody knew it, save for one person, save for, apparently, the silver commander,” said Mansfield. “I don’t know what planet he’s been on, but clearly he’s not been on this one.”

The men – Asif Zaman, Mohammed Saleem, Arshad Khan, Abrar Javid, Imran Iqbal, Nasrum Rashid, Moshin Mahmood, Sadaqat Ali, Shaban Ditta and Akaash Nazir – shared tearful embraces with their families and friends outside the court following the verdict.

Two other men, Haseeb Alam and Mahroof Sultan, had already pleaded guilty to violent disorder but will apply to change their plea in light of Wednesday’s verdict.

Reading a statement on behalf of the defendants outside court, Suresh Grover, director of the Monitoring Group, an anti-racism charity, said that apart from the actions of the far-right groups, their anger was reserved for South Yorkshire police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The prosecution evidence clearly acknowledged that far-right groups were intent on sowing community divisions … It beggars belief knowing what the police knew that the defendants were ever arrested, let alone charged and put on trial,” he said. “Instead of protecting the real victims in this case, the police and the CPS turned against them. On that day they led them towards danger and left them unprotected.

“Public confidence in South Yorkshire police is at an all time low. It can only be gained if there is a rigorous independent inquiry into their conduct and behaviour and they begin to respect local communities.”

One of the defendants, Javid, a 38-year-old NHS project manager, told the Guardian that he had felt personally in danger as a result of the increase in far-right action in the town and that he had been provoked to attend the demonstration following the murder of Ahmed.

He said he understood that policing big demonstrations was a “logistical nightmare” for the police, but that he and the 11 other men arrested on that day had been victims of political policing.

“I believe that because the police had failed in terms of child sexual exploitation they were trying to make examples of a community – in whatever shape or form – and say : ‘Look we’re doing our job now. We’re actually putting a few Asians away.’”

His fellow defendant Saleem, a 44-year-old gas engineer, said he did not think that sending the anti-racism protesters past the Wellgate pub had been an innocent mistake .

“I have my own theories,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m right or not. I don’t think it was just a cock-up. There are similarities with what the police did to the Orgreave miners, and how they herded them to a particular spot.

“I had a bin thrown at me, punches thrown at me and I had literally done nothing. Now you imagine five weeks later, at six or seven in the morning, police officers, 10 of them, coming to your house. Your children are scared, you’re scared, you’re treated as some common criminal.”

Following the protest and arrests in September, the Muslim Community of Rotherham group called for a boycott of South Yorkshire police in the town. A subsequent report by the South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, Alan Billings, into policing on that day urged a different approach to policing “a small number of licensed premises in Rotherham with reputations for disorder and for far-right associations”.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire police said: “Following legal advice, we have taken the decision that it would not be appropriate to provide comment on the outcome of the trial given the fact there is a second trial due to be heard in the next few weeks arising out of the same incident.

“It is critical that the case is dealt with to finality and due legal process is followed and respected for all involved following the events of 5 September 2015.”

