1990 Strangeways Prison Riot - Prosecutions

Prosecutions

The first prosecutions in relation to the riot began at Manchester Crown Court on 14 January 1992. The trial was conducted amid tight security, including armed police patrolling the area around the court, body searches for spectators and a specially constructed dock with sides made from bulletproof glass. Nine men went on trial charged with riot under Section 1 of the Public Order Act 1986, with six of them, including Paul Taylor and Alan Lord, also being charged with the murder of Derek White.

On the first day one prisoner pleaded guilty to charges of riot and conspiracy to riot, and was also acquitted of the murder charge. The other defendants were also acquitted of murder due to the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and the possibility that White had died from a pre-existing thrombotic condition. On 16 April, four defendants including Paul Taylor were convicted of rioting, and the remaining four including Alan Lord were acquitted.

Taylor received a ten-year sentence, the maximum sentence the judge had the power to impose. The sentences received by the other defendants ranged from four years to nine-and-a-half years imprisonment. By the end of the trial the total cost of the Strangeways riot, including refurbishing the prison and the costs of the police inquiry and court case, had reached £112 million.

The second trial began at the same court on 5 October 1992, and dealt with charges relating to the "battle for E wing" on 3 April 1990. There were fourteen defendants, including Alan Lord and another man who was acquitted in the first trial, both of whom were added to the list of defendants after their acquittals. Two defendants pleaded guilty to violent disorder and received four- and five-year sentences, which due to the two years they had spent on remand awaiting trial resulted in them being freed.

The remaining twelve defendants pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent and conspiracy to riot. On 7 December 1992 David Bowen and Mark Azzopardi escaped from the prison van transferring them from HM Prison Hull to the court. Azzopardi was recaptured, before escaping from the court on 17 February 1993 along with five of the other defendants.

At the conclusion of the trial two defendants were acquitted and the remainder found guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent, the lesser charge of conspiracy to riot automatically being dropped when guilty verdicts were announced on the first charge. When passing sentence, the judge remarked "You had your period of arrogance and violence in front of the world, but now the price must be paid and paid by you". The defendants received sentences ranging from four years to ten years imprisonment, although only five defendants were in court to hear the verdict as six defendants were still on the run after escaping and another was being treated at Ashworth Secure Hospital.

Following the second trial, a further 26 defendants were still due to be tried on charges relating to the riot. The Crown Prosecution Service accepted plea bargains where defendants pleaded guilty to violent disorder in exchange for the dropping of other charges, or in some cases all charges were dropped completely. On 20 September 1993 the last remaining defendant to maintain a plea of not guilty went on trial, and he was convicted of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and sentenced to thirty months imprisonment.

On 18 March 1994, six prisoners appeared in court on charges of escaping from custody during the second riot trial. Five of them pleaded guilty to escaping from custody on one occasion, and Mark Azzopardi pleaded guilty to escaping on two occasions. Each was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment for escaping from Manchester Crown Court, and Azzopardi received an additional two-year sentence for escaping from the van transporting him from HM Prison Hull to the court. In July 1994, David Bowen was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice by attempting to influence the jury in the first riot trial, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Paul Taylor, who had already pleaded guilty to the same charge, also received a three-year sentence.