Spanish police closed polling stations on referendum day, but the “vast majority of protesters can be assessed as non-violent”

The vast majority of protesters did not use violence against police during the Catalan independence referendum campaign, according to an independent report by a senior British police officer.

The findings of Sir Hugh Orde, a former chief constable with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and expert on public order, contradict the narrative presented by the prosecution in the trial of 12 separatist leaders.

The Spanish government has been at pains to show it is a fair trial, but it has been criticised for its heavy handedness in what is essentially a political dispute. The prosecution alleges that the Catalan leaders led violent clashes with police before and during the referendum vote on October 1, 2017.

The report, which was commissioned by the defence,