SUSSEX POLICE ARE NOT INNOCENT – Jay Abatan is Brighton's Stephen Lawrence
Last Saturday I attended a demonstration outside Brighton Police Station commemorating the murder of Jay Abatan.
On the 29th
January 1999 Jay Abatan was murdered by a White racist gang after he and his
brother Michael had gone to the Ocean Rooms night club in Morley Street, Brighton.
Sussex Police literally did nothing. An investigation by Essex Police uncovered
57 major failures - such as failing to secure the murder scene and failing to
take witness statements. Essex Police found that earlier in the day a serving police
officer was seen drinking with the murder suspects. It was a rerun of what
happened with Stephen Lawrence. There too corrupt officers had contacts with the
murderers and covered for them.
Jay Abatan
The video above
of Aflo the Poet describes what happened. The police didn’t even bother to
photograph Michael’s injuries, there was no investigation room, no computers,
nothing.
This was
not accidental but the result of police racism. And their excuse today that
they will investigate if there’s new evidence begs the question. What are the
Police there for if they are unable to go out and look for the evidence themselves?
When it comes to policing
demonstrations or harassing groups like Extinction Rebellion or Palestine Action
there are always police available. But when it comes to finding resources for an
investigation into the murder of a Black man there are insufficient
resources. The same goes for rape which according to Victims' Commissioner
Dame
Vera Baird has virtually been decriminalised in this country. Just 1.4% of rape complaints resulted in a charge.
But when I
tell the Labour Party Disputes Team to f*** off and die then there are police
aplenty for an offence which isn’t even imprisonable. It isn’t lack of
resources but a question of priorities and racist attacks are not a priority.
Michael Abatan (centre) and Zita Holborne (speaking)
When there
were weekly
pickets outside the EDO-MBM arms factory in Moulsecoomb every week the
Police had no problem in finding dozens of officers. They also used undercover
officers to infiltrate the campaign against EDO. But when it comes to prosecuting
racists then the Police plead they don’t have enough person power.
The murder of
Jay Abatan took place in the wake of the MacPherson
Inquiry into the racist behaviour of the Metropolitan Police regarding Stephen
Lawrence’s murder but it hasn’t had the same publicity.
Michael Abatan speaking
It’s not a
question of a few bad apples in the police force but that the barrel is rotten.
Why? Because the priority of the Police is protection of property, capitalist
property, not people.
In LB Southwark v Williams [1971] Lord Denning
ruled that hunger was no defence against a charge of theft:
“necessity would open a door which no man could
shut…If hunger were once allowed to be an excuse for stealing the plea would be
an excuse for all sorts of wrong doing. The courts must take a firm stand.”
Sir Peter Bottomley Tory MP for Worthing West attended the demonstration unlike the 3 Brighton & Hove MPs - Green and Labour
The only MP
who was at the demonstration was Sir Peter Bottomley, who represents Worthing
West. Despite the fact that this murder happened in Brighton none of the 3 Brighton
and Hove MPs were present. I wouldn’t expect Peter Kyle, the Red Tory MP for
Hove to attend since the only thing that motivates him is support for Israeli Apartheid.
But where was Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion or Lloyd Russell-Moyle,
Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown? It is clear that to our political representatives
racism is not a priority.
Racism,
sexism and homophobia in the Police is often blamed on a ‘canteen culture, but
this is too glib and answer. Police culture stems from the inherently racist and reactionary practices of the Police which results in most police being right-wing and
assimilating to a culture of blaming minorities for capitalism’s problems.
Jay Abatan - Brighton Police refused to conduct an investigation into his murder
Police Culture of Racism, Sexism and Homophobia
In
the Hotton
Report the following were some of the messages recorded on WhatsApp groups
or on mobile phone texts:
Ø Messages about police officers
attending a festival dressed as known sex offenders and a molested child
Ø numerous
messages about rape and ‘raping’ each other in a WhatsApp group
containing 19 police officers, and within a Facebook chat group containing four
police officers).
Ø Homophobic comments
such as “Gayyyyyy”, “You fucking gay!”
and “Fuck you bender”
Ø One
officer sent messages saying “I would happily rape you”; “if I was single I
Ø would actually
hate fuck you” and “if I was single I would
happily chloroform
you”
Ø ‘Just walked past the big mosque all the fanatics
turn up at to radicalise the young muslims....”
Ø “My dad kidnapped some African children and
used them to make dog food.”
Ø “PWPEHCLM - People with pre-existing
heart conditions lives matter. Should of offered him a kit kat and a nice
lie down. Murdering cunts.”
Ø “Bring all the lefties I say, we can sing
““cum by ya” and embrace our multi gender/ethnic and sexual backgrounds
whilst denouncing all the fascists in the MET...yay for Xmas partied
[sic]...except of course that's a Christian celebration and I believe in ALL religions so it's
not on!! Stick to our own...”
Ø “Some uniform or plain clothes work on
Somalian rats... I battered one the other day...weighed less than
[police officer’s name].”
Ø “Opened my balcony door and loads of flies flew into the front
room. So I got the fly spray and turned my gaff into
Auschwitz.”
Ø A
police officer sent another officer
an image of a Black man wearing a white
shirt. His colleague asked, “What’s good about it I
don’t get it lol.” He
replied, “Ignore
the robber...I
like the shirt.”
Ø Use
of derogatory terms about people with disabilities,
including “spastics” and
“retard”.
Ø One
police officer was referred to as “mcrapey raperson” in a WhatsApp exchange. When officers on
his team were asked to provide an explanation for this nickname, it was explained that
there were rumours about him bringing a woman back to the police station to
have sex with. Others reported it related to his “particular
fondness of IC3 and IC4.” (IC3/4 refer to standard codes for Black and Asian
people).
Ø A
further officer clarified that he thought the nickname related to “harassing them [women], getting on them,
do you know what I mean being like, just a dick.”
A WhatsApp conversation
between two police officers:
Ø Officer
1: “And
my bird won't stop taking the piss. Swear to got [sic] I'm going to smack
her”
Ø Officer 2: “Slap her one...say you didn’t”
Ø Officer 1:
“I`ll fucking do it. She`s fucked
off home.”
A
separate WhatsApp conversation between two police officers:
Ø Officer 1: “I fucking need to take my
bird out, won’t see her until next Saturday. Then I have to work.
Promised to take her out the Friday after. Making it up to her from when I
backhanded her”
Ø Officer 2: “Grab her by the pussy”
Ø Officer 1: “You ever slapped your
missus?”
Ø Officer 1: “It makes them love you
more. Seriously since I did that she won’t leave me alone. Now I know
why these daft cunts are getting murdered by their spastic boyfriends. Knock a
bird about and she will love you. Human nature. They are biologically
programmed to like that shit.”
Ø Officer 2: “Lmao”
Ø Officer 1: “I’m right though”
Ø Officer 1: “I had that massive fight
with my bird because she found out I'd been out on the piss with this
girl who's a high class hooker a couple of weeks ago Hahahah”
Ø Officer 1: “Make friends with high
class hookers”
Ø Officer 2: “I had one in Watford from
adult work. Used
to fuck her all the time”
Ø Officer 1: “Yes! Hahaha”
Ø Officer 2: “used
just hang
out and blast her on the sly”
Ø Officer 2: “when I
was on roids and
needed it every hour”
Messages
sent by a male officer to a female officer:
Ø “I would happily
rape you”
Ø “if I was single
I would actually hate fuck you”
Ø “if I was single
I would happily chloroform you”
Further
messages sent about women, include:
Ø “Getting a woman in to bed
is like spreading butter. It can be done with a bit of effort using a credit
card, but it's quicker and easier just to use a knife.”
Ø “Fuck knows what
she's on about I just wanna spuff on her”
(sent by an officer in reference to another police officer’s girlfriend).
Ø “Mate my Mrs is driving me mad -
come and
shag a baby into her it might shut her up bro.”
Ø Female officers
told us they
would be treated as the “weary female,” told
it was part
of police culture,
that they should accept, “play
the game or stay quiet”, or leave.
The Report also said
that ‘We also obtained evidence
that reports of sexual harassment were not dealt with sensitively within the
MPS.’ Which surely can’t come as a surprise!
This is not a ‘cultural’
problem but a political problem stemming from the politics of
the officers and their role as they (quite correctly) see it.
What is
interesting is that these comments focussed on officers at Charing Cross Police
Station near Trafalgar Square. I joined a picket there about 6 months ago. A
supporter of Palestine Action, Richard, was being charged with Blackmail no
less. This was because the landlord of the Death Merchants Elbit Systems Ltd.
which supplies weapons to Israeli war criminals were told that if they didn’t
stop leasing properties to Israel’s Elbit Systems they too would be targeted.
Is it any
wonder that this right-wing dross and collection of bigots should go the extra
mile to defend the manufacture of weapons that kill Palestinian children and
civilians? After all they find ‘jokes’ about turning Black children into
dogfood amusing and compare spraying insecticide to ‘Auschwitz’.
Tony
Greenstein
For information on the campaign contact abatanm@hotmail.com See also the Jay
Abatan Campaign Facebook
Page
Family
of man killed in ‘racist attack’ continue fight for justice 23 years on
Jay Abatan: Vigil
calls for justice 23 years after Brighton killing
Spot on Tony reposted it
ReplyDeleteDid the MPs get enough notice about the demo? Is this murder commemorated every year or is this the first time, as it was 23 years ago? Personally I would take part in more demos where possible, but there is one every weekend, and like most people I cannot attend all of them! This appalling case needs a lot more public coverage Tony to gain more support.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first demonstration since the COVID pandemic. But it was held every year
DeleteAll Police Forces in the UK are `Institutionally Corrupt; Not just the Met.
ReplyDeleteThat this House expresses concern that eight years after Jay Abatan was killed in a racist attack in Brighton his murderers have still not been brought to justice; notes that subsequent reports into Jay Abatan's murder have revealed flaws in the way the investigation was conducted by the police, and that these investigations have revealed that different police forces are operating different standards and practices during murder investigations and appear not to have implemented the recommendations emanating from the Macpherson report; further notes that it is standard procedure for any death that may have been unlawful to be examined in a public hearing and that Jay Abatan did not receive this; calls for an immediate inquest and for a Gold Group investigation of the Brighton and Sussex police force investigation into Jay's death; and therefore requests an undertaking from the Home Secretary that police force practices will be standardised and that an inquiry into the implementation of the Macpherson recommendations will be conducted across all police forces in England and Wales.
ReplyDelete