Battle of Orgreave: Miners’ strike violence ‘orchestrated by No. 10’

The Battle of Orgeave, as it was called, was a defining moment in the years-long miners’ strike and one of the most violent moments in British industrial history.

Striking miners from across Britain invaded the coking plant to disrupt deliveries, and were met with violence by thousands of police officers.

Miners threw stones at police barriers and mounted police attacked pickets, followed by special units, the so-called “Snatch Squads”.

At least 120 miners and police officers were injured in the violence.

“A massacre. That day was the most terrible day of my life and I carried a man out of the underground who was killed.”

Ron Stoate, 74, was vice-chairman of Penallta Lodge in the Rhymney Valley and was in Orgreave on the day of the violence.

“We have been caught in a well-planned and orchestrated police attack.”

The Orgreave coking plant is long gone, but standing on a hill overlooking the town, Ron says the “bitterness and anger” he feels is just as strong today as it was four decades ago.

Ron called on the new Labour government to keep its promise and launch an investigation as soon as possible.

“I will never forget it.”

Calls for an inquiry have been going on for 40 years, led by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.

On that day, 95 miners were arrested and 55 of them were charged with rebellion, which at the time was punishable by life imprisonment.

A further 40 miners were charged with unlawful assembly, but their trials were dropped because police evidence was deemed unreliable.

In its party manifesto, Labour committed itself to an “investigation or inquiry” into the events in Orgreave.

BBC Wales asked the UK government when the action might begin and how it would be carried out. The response was: “Information will be announced in due course but there is no detailed information that we can announce yet.”

Lord Heseltine, then a minister in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, declined an interview.

Now Antoniw, who as a young lawyer represented the miners arrested in Orgreave, called on the new Labour government in Westminster to launch an investigation.

He said: “I firmly believe that these decisions came from Downing Street, from the top of the government.”

“It was a political decision to intervene directly in the miners’ strike and basically give the miners a good beating, teach them a lesson and make an example of them with long prison sentences.”

He believes there are parallels between Orgreave and the Hillsborough disaster, in which South Yorkshire Police were also caught up.

Mr Antoniw is convinced that the miners accused during the strike would have been pardoned today if the judiciary had been transferred to Wales – as in Scotland, where the judiciary is the responsibility of ministers.

South Yorkshire Police paid £425,000 in compensation to 39 miners who sued for assault, wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.

The police have not admitted any wrongdoing and no misconduct charges have been brought or prosecuted against any of the officers.

Police officer Griffiths said he feared for his life that day and there was violence on both sides.

“It started when rockets started raining down on us – ball bearings, bricks and pieces of metal,” he said.

“I turned to a colleague, Stan, and I remember saying, ‘I think we’re going to die here.’

He said he remembered some miners targeting police horses, including one who “punched the police horse in the face.”

He said that when his colleague pulled on the reins and the horse’s head “slammed right into the miner,” the striker asked him: “What are you going to do about it?”

To which the officer replied: “Absolutely nothing, you deserve it.”

He added: “The war against the miners had to be won. I was one of Maggie’s boys and I knew I was a tool of the government to beat the miners.”

Mr Griffiths does not believe an investigation should be carried out because “it is history and I believe it should remain history.”

Photographer Roger Tiley, 64, was probably closer to the action than any other photographer that day, as he was among the miners.

He described it as “by far the worst day of my life” and is convinced that the events were staged for the media.

“TV cameras were strategically placed on one building and press photographers stood to the side.

“The police were just crazy. It seemed like they just wanted to hurt the miners and anyone else who got in their way.

“I must have lost my films from my bag, so I came back with nothing, which was very embarrassing.”

He said he never told anyone he was at Orgreave for “10 or 20 years”.

Like Ron, Roger believes the incident should be investigated as soon as possible: “I witnessed something that I hope never happens again. It was horrific, a nightmare.”

Alan ‘Tal’ Jones, 66, was a surface worker at Cynheidre Colliery in Carmarthenshire when he travelled to Orgreave.

He said he was brought up to respect the police, but after Orgreave that all changed.

“To be honest, it disturbed me a little. I’ll never forget it.”

Like the other men, he is now calling on the Labour government to conduct a full investigation.

“It has to be that way. Not a single police officer was punished for his behavior that day. It’s time for the truth.”

Ron Stoate said that the closure of the mines did not just take away his job.

“I ended up in a lot of crappy jobs, making crappy money and having to struggle just to keep my morale up.

“People will never understand the bitterness I feel about what happened this year, and that day in particular, when I came back, it was a new reminder to me.

“I’m just devastated. There should be an investigation. People should be held accountable.”

South Yorkshire Police said in a statement: “It would be inappropriate for South Yorkshire Police to attempt to explain or defend the force’s actions in 1984, as all those involved in policing the miners’ strike are long retired and the information we have has not been properly assessed.”